Hunter Moore, Computer Hacking, California 2023

LOS ANGELES – Hunter Moore, 28, of Woodland, California, who operated the now-defunct isanyoneup.com, pleaded guilty today to federal computer hacking and identity theft charges for hiring another man to hack into e-mail accounts to steal nude photos that were later posted on his website.

Moore faces a statutory maximum sentence of seven years in federal prison, and a mandatory minimum sentence of two years. He pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Dolly M. Gee, who is scheduled to sentence the defendant on June 24.

The alleged hacker – Charles Evens, 26, of Studio City, California – still faces a host of federal charges and is scheduled to go on trial before Judge Gee on March 17. Evens faces charges contained in a 15-count grand jury indictment that accuses him of conspiracy, seven counts of unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information and seven counts of aggravated identity theft.

Moore operated the website http://isanyoneup.com, where he posted, among other things, nude or sexually explicit photos of victims. The pictures were submitted by individuals, without the victim’s permission, for purposes of revenge, Moore admitted in court. However, to obtain more photos for the website, Moore instructed Evens to gain unauthorized access to – in other words, to hack into – Google e-mail accounts, according to Moore’s plea agreement.

The plea agreement discusses one specific incident in late 2011 when Moore sent an email to Evens that stated Moore would like as many nude pictures from hacked emails accounts as possible. In response, Evens accessed a victim’s e-mail account without authorization and obtained pictures, Evens provided the pictures to Moore, and Moore paid $145.70 to defendant Evens using Paypal. One of the nude photos was posted on isnayoneup.com on December 29, 2011, according to the plea agreement.

The investigation in this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

Moore’s guilty pleas are a significant victory for victims of revenge porn and cybercrime. His sentence will serve as a warning to those who seek to exploit and harm others online.

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