A former intern for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign was arrested Tuesday and charged in federal court with cyber stalking and internet extortion for allegedly obtaining nude photographs of young women and using them to blackmail his victims into sending more nude pictures.
Adam Savader, 21, who is also a former intern of Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign, contacted 15 victims between May 2012 and February 2013, according to affidavit by FBI Special Agent Michael T. Garland. Savader would allegedly contact his victims via text message from a Google Voice number, telling them he had nude pictures and threatening to send them to their parents or post them online unless they sent him more.
Many of the victims, some of which have not been identified, either went to the same college as Savader or grew up in the same area as Savader, who is from Great Neck, New York.
On Twitter, Savader describes himself as “Formerly @PRyan’s sole intern on @MittRomney’s campaign and a @newtgingrich campaign staffer.” His Twitter avatar is a picture of him with Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI).
In exchanges with a woman identified in the affidavit as Victim 3, for example, Savader allegedly threatened to send nude pictures of her to the Republican National Committee as well as her parents, sorority, and internship. “Victim 3 estimated that on some days she would receive approximately eighty text messages,” the affidavit reads.
Several of the victims reported that their Gmail accounts had been compromised prior to receiving the threatening messages.
In another example, Victim 4 received the following text message from a Google Voice number on Oct. 30, 2012: “WAIT! Listen to me. If we don’t have a deal I will send the pictures to those people. Is that what u want? remember what’s at stake. do u want ur family and everyone in DC to see ur tits? Just agree to e-mail me a pic of u in a bra.”
