College Track Coach Sentenced to 5 Years for Tricking Over 50 Women into Sending Nude Photos

Steve Waithe.Photo: Derik Hamilton/getty images

A former collegetrack and field coach was sentencedto five years in federal prison after setting up fake social media accounts, attempting to trick over 100 women into sending him nude or compromising photos.

When Steve Waithe, 31, was a coach at Northeastern University in Boston from 2018 to  2019, he used the phones of female athletes, telling them it was for “filming their form,” when he was actually sending himself explicit photos of the women saved on their devices, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said in a release.

In 2020, Waithe, who was no longer at the school, then began starting fake social accounts and victimized or attempted to victimize at least 128 women, including some of the same student-athletes at Northeastern, prosecutors said.

Waithe used the accounts to message women, saying that he had found compromising photos of them online, and needed another nude or semi-nude photo to conduct “reverse image searches” in order to help remove them, according to prosecutors, who added that none of the Northeastern athletes were successfully tricked.

Prosecutors say Waithe made up two female personas and claimed to be conducting “athlete research” and “body development” studies and asked for photos showing “as much skin as possible.”

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Waithe was arrested in April 2021, but prosecutors said that during his pre-trial release, he engaged in “virtually identical” conduct.

In November 2023, Waithe pleaded guilty to 12 counts of wire fraud, one count of cyberstalking, one count of conspiracy to commit computer fraud, and one count of computer fraud, aiding and abetting.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

source: people.com