FBI Busts "Revenge Porn" Kingpin Hunter Moore On 15 Felony Counts Share

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The operator of a notorious “revenge porn” web site was arrested today by FBI agents for allegedly conspiring with another man to hack into the e–mail accounts of numerous victims in search of naked photos that could be posted online.

Hunter Moore, the 27-year-old founder of isanyoneup.com, and Charles Evens, 25, were named in a 15-count felony indictment unsealed today in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. The men have each been charged with conspiracy, seven counts of identity theft, and seven counts of unauthorized computer access.

According to prosecutors, Moore (seen at right) paid Evens to hack e-mail accounts in search of sexually explicit photos for his web site. The indictment cites e-mails exchanged by the duo in 2011 and 2012 that refer to the illegality of the hacking and the need to use anonymous PayPal accounts.

Additionally, the indictment charges, an October 2011 e-mail from Moore to Evens stated that “they needed to create new e-mail accounts and delete evidence of the hacking scheme.” In other e-mails to Evens, Moore allegedly directed his sidekick to “hack more” and “hack all week for me,” while also making specific requests like “7 girls and 3 dudes.”

While alleging that Evens would “gain unauthorized access to the e-mail accounts of hundreds of victims,” the indictment cites only eight specific victims (who are identified only by their initials). In each of those cases, the e-mail hacks yielded naked photos of the victims (which were then uploaded to Moore’s web site).

Moore, who lives in Woodland, California, apparently provided Evens with his own mother’s Gmail address when requesting that nude photos be e-mailed to him.

If convicted of the federal charges, Moore and Evens face up to five years in prison on the conspiracy and computer hacking counts. The identity theft charges carry “a mandatory two-year sentence” that would run “consecutive to any other sentence imposed in the case,” according to prosecutors.

Moore has gleefully cultivated an image as one of the online world’s most hated figures, most famously in Rolling Stone and Village Voice profiles. During a 2012 TV interview, Moore was confronted by the mother of a young woman whose nude photos appeared--without her consent--on isanyoneup.com. “I'm sorry that your daughter was 'cyber-raped,' but, I mean, now she's educated on technology,” Moore told the woman.

Moments before the FBI showed up at his door this morning, Moore was on Twitter directing a tweet to the account of Justin Bieber, who was in custody in Miami Beach for DUI and resisting arrest. “I’m comin to bust you out lil nigga,” Moore wrote.