Former Northeastern track coach Steve Waithe pleads guilty in nude photo scheme
BOSTON - A former women's track coach at Northeastern University has pleaded guilty in a nude photo scheme.
Thirty-year-old Steve Waithe was accused of stealing nude and semi-nude photos from women's phones and using the photos to threaten the women into sending more. Investigators said Waithe had more than 12 fake social media and email accounts and cyberstalked one athlete, trying to access her Snapchat account. Waithe used the social media accounts to pose as a "privacy protector," telling victims he found nude images online and needed nude photos from the victims so he could perform "reverse images searches."
Investigators said he also created two female personas and contacted women as part of an "athlete research study," asking them about diet and exercise habits and requesting photos of the victims so the "study" could track their progress.
"Mr. Waithe's conduct is despicable. For almost a year, he manipulated, exploited, and in one case, stalked young women across the county hiding behind a web of anonymized social media accounts and fabricated personas he engineered. Mr. Waithe maliciously invaded the lives of dozens of innocent victims and inflicted real trauma" said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy.
Waithe, of Chicago, worked as a track and field coach at Northeastern University, Penn State, Illinois Institute of Technology, University of Tennessee and Concordia University Chicago. Waithe pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including several counts of wire fraud, cyberstalking and computer fraud.
The FBI says Waithe victimized at least 50 women nationwide. Prosecutors want him to serve almost four years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for March 6.
