A Florida man (Christopher Chaney, 35) has been arrested in a cell-phone hacking case that led to naked photos of Scarlett Johansson ending up online.
He was arrested Wednesday and charged with 26 counts of computer hacking, aggravated identity theft and wiretapping. He faces a maximum penalty of 121 years in federal prison. The aggravated identity theft charge alone carries a mandatory two-year prison sentence.
The investigation is called “Operation Hackerazzi,” officials say Chaney hacked into the personal e-mail accounts of dozens of people in the entertainment industry. The likes of Christina Aguilera and Mila Kunis.
Hacker: I’m ‘Addicted’ to Spying on Stars
Christopher Chaney considers it somewhat of a blessing in disguise that he was arrested for hacking into celebrity cell phones and email accounts.
In an interview with Christopher, he said he became “addicted to seeing behind-the-scenes” lives of the stars and that he felt “almost relieved months ago” when authorities seized his computer.
“It started as a curiosity,” , “It happened and snowballed. … I didn’t know how to stop doing it.”
Chaney, who most notoriously leaked nude photos online of Scarlett Johansson from her cell phone in September, regrets his actions.
“I deeply apologize,” he says. “I know what I did was probably one of the worst invasions of privacy someone could experience. These people don’t have privacy to begin with, and I was in that tiny little sliver of privacy they do have.”
Scarlett: I’m Entitled to Privacy
In a new interview with CNN, Scarlett addresses those naked pictures that were allegedly hacked from a private cell phone and leaked online on Sept. 15.
“Just because you’re an actor or make films or whatever doesn’t mean you’re not entitled to your own personal privacy,” she says in the interview, according to a Reuters report. “If that is sieged in some way, it feels unjust. It feels wrong.”
“This arrest comes as a relief to the victims, many of whom suffered great distress,” Steven Martinez, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s L.A. field office, said at a news conference.