A 21-year-old New York man has been released after a month in custody on cyberstalking charges filed in Detroit.
Adam Savader of Great Neck, N.Y., is charged with cyberstalking and extortion through the Internet. He's accused of threatening to release nude photos of young women, including one from Ann Arbor, unless they sent some to him. Many are college students who know him.
The 21-year-old Republican presidential campaign intern who worked for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in 2012 was charged in New York in April and held without bond. He was eventually transported to Detroit, and a federal judge allowed his release Friday. A not-guilty plea was entered.
The criminal complaint says Savader called himself John Smith when he sent text messages to women over a Google phone service. Authorities say he got access to nude photos through hacked accounts that belonged to the women.
A federal affidavit revealed a report by one of the 15 women stating that she received texts from an unknown number. The person told the women he had nude photos of her and if she didn’t send him more, he would send them to her parents. Savader was traced to the Google Voice number used to extort the victims.