Ignored by Police, Two Women Took Down Their Cyber-Harasser Themselves (msn.com) 104
Here's how the Washington Post tells the story of 34-year-old marketer (and former model) Madison Conradis, who discovered nude behind-the-scenes photos from 10 years earlier had leaked after a series of photographer web sites were breached:
Now the photos along with her name and contact information were on 4chan, a lawless website that allows users to post anonymously about topics as varied as music and white supremacy... Facebook users registered under fake names such as "Joe Bummer" sent her direct messages demanding that she send new, explicit photos, or else they would further spread the already leaked photos. Some pictures landed in her father's Instagram messages, while marketing clients told her about the nude images that came their way. Madison was at a friend's party when she got a panicked call from the manager of a hotel restaurant where she had worked: The photos had made their way to his inbox. After two years, hoping a new Florida law against cyberharassment would finally end the torture, Madison walked into her local Melbourne police station and shared everything. But she was told that what she was experiencing was not criminal.
What Madison still did not know was that other women were in the clutches of the same man on the internet — and all faced similar reactions from their local authorities. Without help from the police, they would have to pursue justice on their own.
Some cybersleuthing revealed the four women all had one follower in common on Facebook: Christopher Buonocore. (They were his ex-girlfriend, his ex-fiance, his relative, and a childhood friend.) Eventually Madison's sister Christine — who had recently passed the bar exam — "prepared a 59-page document mapping the entire case with evidence and relevant statutes in each of the victims' jurisdictions. She sent the document to all the women involved, and each showed up at her respective law enforcement offices, dropped the packet in front of investigators and demanded a criminal investigation." The sheriff in Florida's Manatee County, Christine's locality, passed the case up to federal investigators. And in July 2019, the FBI took over on behalf of all six women on the basis of the evidence of interstate cyberstalking that Christine had compiled...
The U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida took action at the end of December 2020, but without a federal law criminalizing the nonconsensual distribution of intimate images, she charged Buonocore with six counts of cyberstalking instead, which can apply to some cases involving interstate communication done with the intent to kill, injure, intimidate, harass or surveil someone. He pleaded guilty to all counts the following January...
U.S. District Judge Thomas Barber sentenced Buonocore to 15 years in federal prison — almost four years more than the prosecutor had requested.
What Madison still did not know was that other women were in the clutches of the same man on the internet — and all faced similar reactions from their local authorities. Without help from the police, they would have to pursue justice on their own.
Some cybersleuthing revealed the four women all had one follower in common on Facebook: Christopher Buonocore. (They were his ex-girlfriend, his ex-fiance, his relative, and a childhood friend.) Eventually Madison's sister Christine — who had recently passed the bar exam — "prepared a 59-page document mapping the entire case with evidence and relevant statutes in each of the victims' jurisdictions. She sent the document to all the women involved, and each showed up at her respective law enforcement offices, dropped the packet in front of investigators and demanded a criminal investigation." The sheriff in Florida's Manatee County, Christine's locality, passed the case up to federal investigators. And in July 2019, the FBI took over on behalf of all six women on the basis of the evidence of interstate cyberstalking that Christine had compiled...
The U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida took action at the end of December 2020, but without a federal law criminalizing the nonconsensual distribution of intimate images, she charged Buonocore with six counts of cyberstalking instead, which can apply to some cases involving interstate communication done with the intent to kill, injure, intimidate, harass or surveil someone. He pleaded guilty to all counts the following January...
U.S. District Judge Thomas Barber sentenced Buonocore to 15 years in federal prison — almost four years more than the prosecutor had requested.
Finally (Score:3)
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Don't some types of killing only get 15 years? It seems strange that that would be the sentence for harassing four people. (Not to minimize--it was serious harassment and probably life altering for some of those women.) And that's 15 years after he pleaded guilty. It was more punishment than the prosecutor wanted (but prosecutors ask for more punishment than they actually think is fair, since that's how the system works). So the prosecutor asked for 11 years, probably thinking 5 years was really a fair puni
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It can be reasonable for the law to make an example of someone to deter future offenders
Not really. While my own morality is more about consequences, I expect the law to act based on law and justice (and precedent, etc.). The law is not consequentialist.
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It can be reasonable for the law to make an example of someone to deter future offenders
Not really. While my own morality is more about consequences, I expect the law to act based on law and justice (and precedent, etc.). The law is not consequentialist.
Indeed, I agree. On top of that, nowadays we can't even tell if TFA is a hoax or if it really happened. As far as I am concerned, links to the pictures please or it didn't happen! /s
Re:Finally (Score:5, Informative)
https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/pr/new-york-man-sentenced-15-years-federal-prison-cyberstalking-and-sextortion
Which obviously isn't a hoax. There are also six victims, not four, and one of them was a minor. From the justice link:
>"According to court documents, over a seven-year period, Buonocore
> used fictitious phone numbers, text messages, and social media
> accounts to harass, intimidate, cyberstalk, and attempt to sextort
> six women, including a minor. Buonocore's harassment campaign
> involved posting thousands of sexually explicit and nude images of
> the victims to the internet, as well as the victims' personal identifying
> information, including phone numbers, addresses, and social media
> account identifiers.
> Buonocore also solicited individuals on the internet to contact and
> harass the victims, including, at times, enlisting those individuals to
> attempt to extort additional sexually explicit images from the victims
> (sometimes referred to as "sextortion") and other times encouraging
> these individuals to rape a victim."
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woosh.... /s
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Re:Finally (Score:5, Insightful)
Politically motivated, you say?
Please enlighten us on which party supports cyberstalking and harassing women.
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I don't know which party supports cyberstalking, but the trumpism party definitely supports harassing women.
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What? If I were fucking a nut, I would say a thing like "I am fucking a nut".
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heheheh
Re: Finally (Score:2)
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Three-year-old much?
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No, I literally said he isn't my candidate. Three year old reading comprehension much?
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Politically motivated, you say?
Please enlighten us on which party supports cyberstalking and harassing women.
Politically motivated doesn't mean parties, though the people who want to repeal due process (and have forced college campuses to do so for men in sexual assault accusation cases) and persecute men are all in one part, since you ask.
In this case, the judge clearly wanted to use the law to set an example, by applying punishment unequally and unfairly. It's not ok!
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That may be true, but I'm a simple person. All I assumed is that he wanted to advance his own career.
But I do wish the powers that be would just make up their minds about whether men and women are equal or are fundamentally different. (Funny unrelated fact: I just noticed small-ish women open heavy doors with their hips or shoulders. Small-ish men don't.)
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That may be true, but I'm a simple person. All I assumed is that he wanted to advance his own career.
Exactly. He wanted to advance his own career, so he is showing off for the press or his leftie political bosses. An extra decade in jail for you so this guy's career might approve.
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Capitalize that "d," sir.
Re: Finally (Score:2)
Re: Finally (Score:2)
Probably more to do with state line crossing misdeeds as the FBI got in on it. More akin to a mail fraud or transporting across state lines , that's why the long sentence, he deserved it.
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To doubly emphasize, I'd argue that U.S. District Judge Thomas Barber raped a harasser by using the perp for his own purposes, against all conventions and obviously against his will.
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Just how fucked up are you?
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Do you want an answer as a haiku or interpretive dance?
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That sounds like an argument for increasing rapists' punishments
Re:Finally (Score:5, Informative)
15 years is far beyond the punishment called for. Rapists, even poor rapists who can't afford a lawyer, don't get that.
Rape, as disgusting as it is, is a single act of violence, whereas this gentleman here committed a long term act of threats, intimidation and harassment. Quite likely the duration of his criminal activity did him in for good (or at least the better part of 15 years).
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Rape, as disgusting as it is, is a single act of violence
Never heard of woman being raped over a series of days, weeks, or months, sometimes by muliple men, have you? Would you like to try again?
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What even are you arguing for? If a woman is raped multiple times, the rapist is charged with multiple counts of rape. Are you so stupid that you are arguing against that?
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Rape, as disgusting as it is, is a single act of violence
Never heard of woman being raped over a series of days, weeks, or months, sometimes by muliple men, have you?
That's not just rape at that point; it's human trafficking. Rape is just a component of it.
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The sentence is also consider that there are 4 victims. There is something the judge knows that no one here is considering, the development of the human brain. Young people, into their mid twenties, are still developing psychological maturity. It is fairly 'normal' for young people to make mistakes as they continue to mature. The court tends to be more lenient on younger people that maybe made a mis-step as part of growing up and will consider the current predicament a lesson for the future. After some age,
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p... [nih.gov]
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15 years is less than 3 years per count.
Now do a more accurate comparison and find the sentencing for someone convicted of raping 4 women repeatedly for 10 years (the same length of time that the cyberstalking went on in this case).
Yes and No (Score:1)
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Re: Finally (Score:2)
Re:Finally (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Finally (Score:5, Insightful)
He tried to hire someone to rape a 14 year old member of his own family so he could watch.
My ex-wife was raped by her mother's boyfriend when she was 14. She was still having flashbacks and nightmares 13 years later when we divorced.
Consider that if he wanted to do that to a family member he would probably want to do that to any 14 year old who caught his eye. What if the 14 year old he managed to hire someone to rape was your sister, favorite cousin, or your best friend's daughter?
You think his sentence was unjust. Fine, that's your opinion.
My opinion is they should have shot SOB. I've seen the long term damage people like him can do first hand.
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He tried to hire someone to rape a 14 year old member of his own family so he could watch.
It's unclear whether there was adequate proof of intent to actually follow through on the threats to make that case. Otherwise, I suspect they would have added charges of conspiracy to commit sexual assault on a minor or similar.
Re: Finally (Score:2)
That doesn't diminish what he said in any way. There's a threshold for proving conspiracy to rape a minor in court, then there's living with the consequences of your speech.
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That doesn't diminish what he said in any way. There's a threshold for proving conspiracy to rape a minor in court, then there's living with the consequences of your speech.
The way I read the summary implies that those statements were probably in the context of trash talking, rather than an actual expression of intent to hire someone to rape someone else. That's not just missing the threshold for proving conspiracy, but rather missing the entire mens rea. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve jail time, just that we shouldn't automatically assume that he intended to follow through with his threats in the absence of supporting evidence. (If there's supporting evidence beyond the
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Re: This is the future (Score:3)
Depends on where it is. Smaller towns are more likely to see the cops respond to most things. Bigger cities, less likely. Cities like Los Angeles, unless it's something really taboo like rape, murder, or having a utility knife in your pocket, forget about the police doing anything at all.
Hell, I ran a red light right in front of a cop car once and all they did was follow me really closely for like 30 seconds before driving off. This was like a year ago and nothing ever came of it.
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But but defund the police!!!
Seriously though, that pd in Florida had more than enough assets to deal with the problem. They refused to do so out of sloth and incompetence. They easily could have called in state police for assistance.
Not exactly news (Score:4, Interesting)
The perp was sentenced in November 2021
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Yeah it's the reporting that's happening now. It is a little late though.
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Yeah it's the reporting that's happening now. It is a little late though.
A little? Was there a legal reason for delay in reporting that long?
Even with the dull roar of COVID ongoing, this story isn't exactly 'slow news day' fodder.
Re:Why? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: Why? (Score:3)
You are disgusting. The photos are a sexual thing. The intent is people who are fans of the beauty looking at them. That is why the sites have names like *only fans*. Her father was sexually harassed by being forced to see them, as was everyone else. This guy is a multiple sex offender for doing that.
Imagine if someone drugged you, then carried you around shoving your genitals in the face of non consenting people, then tried to blame you for having genitals at all. That would be your reflection.
Re: Why? (Score:2)
https://nypost.com/2023/09/11/... [nypost.com]
No one will see, but adding for the Akashic slashdotal library. Kabuki theater regarding this.
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Re:Why? (Score:4, Insightful)
What she's angry about is not that the photos leaked
Yes she is.
You're just a fauxtistic nerd, with pretend no-understanding of human feelings. Shut the fuck up, and kill yourself.
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Typical nerd strawman.
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Re:15 years?? (Score:5, Insightful)
Why?
To me it seems brief compared to potential lifelong impacts, career and income impacts which compound lifelong for the victims.
If it were 15 years per victim it would make more sense to me. But this is just two and half per. If someone did something to you which drove away clients, reduced your earnings, denied you job opportunities, often without your awareness of the motivation for the decision, resulting in your annual earnings being perhaps 10% lower every single year... And he tried to hire someone to rape his 14 year old relative!?
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Every time you explain yourself more, it shows how much you identify with the criminal. You need mental help, and therapy. Please go get them before you end up being a criminal yourself.
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LOL, you can't cancel me by association. Not gonna work, bud!
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"Fuck around, find out." Isn't that what you guys tell the rest of us?
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Who are "you guys," and why are you trying to personalize this?
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Just to set the facts straight:
In the US at least, a typical 20 year sentence is served in 7. Good behavior + early parole.
A "Life Sentence" is typically served in 20-25 years. That's why "Without the Possibility of Parole" are the magic words.
You are deliberately mischaracterizing, probably through ignorance, what prosecutors do. They are much more aware of the numbers behind parole than I am.
I hate to break it to you, snowflake, but in criminal law your feelings don't matter, unless you're
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Yet, the prosecutor disagreed with you.
Also, what the frick does parole have to do with the actual sentence? Nothing whatsoever, just more silly spin by the pearl clutcher.
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15 years seems incredibly excessive.
Personally, I'd love to see him hang. (A note to you youngins, that's an outmoded form of barbaric capital punishment. Execution.)
Baring that, maybe give him 60 - 80 years in prison.
But then, I'm an evil old right wing white guy, a big fan of the "carceral state", etc. So I would think that.
(Also, I believe than women actually exist, so giving them special extra protection is fine with me. And I'm not even a biologist! [usatoday.com])
So what are your thoughts... (Score:1)
...on inciting rebellion, treason and interfering with transfer of power? How much should such a criminal get?
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It seems incredibly excessive compared to others who serve a 15 or 20 year sentence for repeatedly abusing a child.
On the other hand, 3x5 years is not incredibly excessive, however child abusers, robbers and thieves should likewise serve the Nx20 years then for each count of abusing a child, robbing a place or stealing a thing and not be allowed to sit out multiple sentences in parallel.
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There's no need to speculate on the appropriate total sentence, since we already know it. 11 years, the already excessive (by design) number from the prosecution. You can usually roughly cut those in half to see what judges, acting impartially and with not political axe to grind, tend to land at.
It is possible the judge somehow saw a particularly egregious set of circumstances that even the prosecution could not see that would warrant such a punitive sentence, but that seems very unlikely.
And for all thos
That evil 'varied' music is at it again. (Score:1)
"...were on 4chan, a lawless website that allows users to post anonymously about topics as varied as music and white supremacy..."
I really don't think we're going to uncover some secret about Adolf using a wicked Nazi rock band to brainwash the masses back in the day, so maybe music isn't the best example of what would be considered 'varied' content on 4chan? Almost makes it sound like every legitimate music site is doing something wrong by merely talking about it online.
"Ignored by police" (Score:3)
When are people going to acknowledge that the police are crap at their job?
My T-Shirt wore out in 1990 (Score:5, Insightful)
I was one of the victims on BIX when a person lost his mental wheels and started posting hate from fake accounts opened with "hacked" credit cards. I was told I'd be cut up and fed to his dog after being raped with his knife. I'm more stubborn about this than stupid for sticking around to help catch the critter. He end, as it turns out, was at his own hands after he lost his Korean wife and work visa in the US over a pattern of credit card abuse. He was brought down by the Secret Service treasury people not the FBI or anybody else. There were no other laws they could apply.
This story's conclusion leaves an unbelievably warm feeling in me. That bastard earned far more than a mere 15 years as far as I am concerned. This kind of thing really changes your life even if the perp commits suicide a few years later. I've lived 38 years wondering when and how the world would poop on me again. I wish I could have lived with a brighter outlook on life.
{o.o}
Re:My T-Shirt wore out in 1990 (Score:4, Insightful)
Later, four women are arrested for stalking (Score:2)
I'm glad he got 10 years (Score:1, Interesting)
...but we live in a fucked up system when a guy gets 10 years for posting/blackmailing women with nude pics that were consensually taken while they were adults, while at the same time a dude gets 180 DAYS for ACTUALLY raping 4 and 9 years old girls.
One might almost suspect there are different standards for harm against pretty white girls.
https://www.postbulletin.com/n... [postbulletin.com]
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A 20 year old man is a child?
He was 16 at the time but in MN a 16yr old can be charged as an adult for felonies.
A proud moment for you shilling for child rapists?
Anybody who respects the police has a screw loose (Score:2)
Having had the chance to observe their behaviour in court, I think it's fair to say a lot of cops are lazy, corrupt, stupid, thuggish, violent, stupid, incompetent, stupid, fascist bullies. And did I mention that they're stupid?
For those who say most cops are decent, hard-working and honest, I'll just say this: when a bad cop breaks the law and other "good" cops look the other way or actually assist in the coverup, they no longer get to call themselves good cops. Aiding and abetting is a crime. When you
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Yep. Or watches too much local news with the indoctrination of "police said [press release BS here]".
Cops have too much power, little-or-no accountability, and permit corruption by hiding behind their blue wall of silence to protect perpetrators in their ranks.
Once, some young chick side-swiped my vehicle while attempting to park. Then, instead of exchanging insurance (that she doesn't have), she takes off. I call the cops. Mr. traffic cop shows up and takes a report. Mr. traffic cop finds the vehicle
Cops are lazy, only influence will motivate them (Score:2)