19-year-old hacks social media for nude photos to extort teens, California police say
A 19-year-old California man was arrested on Monday for hacking underage teens’ social media accounts for their nude photos, police said.
Then he tried to extort them for more photos through text after posting their images on various social media platforms, Berkeley Police Department said in a news release.
Liam Burgmann, of Berkeley, faces charges of possession of child pornography, fraudulent possession of personal information, computer access and fraud, and distributing images of intimate body parts with the intent to cause distress — also known as “revenge porn.”
The three-month investigation began in May. Berkeley High School officials contacted police after multiple high school students reported someone hacking into their Snapchat accounts for access to their nude photos, and then posting them without their permission, according to a probable cause document.
Investigators discovered Burgmann hacked 17 victims’ accounts from across the Bay Area, including public and private schools in Alameda County, Contra Costa County and Marin County, police said.
Detectives then found Burgmann with more than 130 child pornography videos — including600 images of children 3 to 12 years old on his Kik account, according to court documents.
He also had personal login information for more than 100 names, including addresses, passwords, birthdays, phone numbers and Instagram and Snapchat logins, court documents show.
Investigators connected Burgmann to the hacked Snapchat accounts through his IP address, the probable cause states.
Burgmann’s attorney, David Cohen, told McClatchy News on Friday officials have not given him the search warrants related to Burgmann’s case.
But Cohen said he’s filed a motion to throw out four felony charges of computer access and fraud. “They are nonsensical in the way they are drafted and they don’t make any sense,” he said.
Cohen urged the public to not rush to judgment on the case because it hasn’t gone to court yet and other charges could still be dropped.
“Let’s not convict someone for the rest of their life in the media,” he said.
Burgmann’s bail was initially set at over $1 million by police but it was lowered to $220,000. His next court hearing will be Oct. 25 at the René C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland. He was released on bail early Friday morning, Cohen said.
Anyone with information about the case can contact Berkeley Police Departments youth services detail at 510-981-5715.
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 2:04 PM with the headline "19-year-old hacks social media for nude photos to extort teens, California police say."
