Nitro
12-03-2007, 08:09 PM
Hacker gets 110 years for threats on MySpace
A 33-year-old North Carolina man sentenced Friday to 110 years in prison used "tools of terror" to hack into the computers of Brevard County girls and extort nude pictures from them, an assistant U.S. attorney said.
Ivory Dickerson, a civil engineer, gained remote access to their computers, giving him the ability to type words onto their screens. He was arrested last December after girls at Rockledge High School told authorities their MySpace profiles had been hacked into and the person on the other end was demanding revealing and pornographic images.
He threatened to harm their family members, post nude pictures of them on the Web and, in one case, make a 17-year-old "the most well known girl at school" if they didn't do what he said, according to court records.
One victim, who was 15 at the time of the incident, told U.S. District Court Judge Anne Conway during Friday's sentencing hearing that she felt as though the computer intruder was watching her every move.
"I was afraid to walk outside because I didn't know if it was the neighbor," the girl said.
The victim's father called it a "living hell."
"The whole thing has turned our life upside down," the man said. His name is being withheld to protect the identity of his daughter.
Members of Dickerson's family in North Carolina also spoke, calling him a fair and honest person with many achievements, including being named "outstanding student" at his community college. They said Dickerson had a knack for making people laugh and that they would stand by him.
"I hate for this mistake to define the bigger picture of who he is," said his mother, Carmen Wake.
Dickerson's attorney, Harrison "Butch" Slaughter, urged a sentence that would give "light at the end of the tunnel."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg told the court that Dickerson used his computer-hacking skills -- "tools of terror," he called them -- to do evil.
While investigating the hacking case, the local FBI Innocent Images Task Force uncovered a cache of child pornography dating to 1998 and videos of Dickerson with young girls, thought to be about 15 years old. In the video, Dickerson boasts of drinking with them in his room and having sexual encounters with them, according to court records.
Conway handed Dickerson the maximum sentence on three counts of manufacturing child pornography, two counts of unlawful computer intrusion and one count of possession of child pornography. He pleaded guilty earlier this year.
Dickerson apologized but insisted that an unnamed co-conspirator was the one responsible for having direct contact with the girls.
"I would never have taunted those girls," he said.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/technology/orl-porn0107dec01,0,3042163.story
Does the punishment fit the crime? Is 110 years too much? Too little? Comical because there is no way he will survive for another 110 years and just be a burden on US taxpayers?
A 33-year-old North Carolina man sentenced Friday to 110 years in prison used "tools of terror" to hack into the computers of Brevard County girls and extort nude pictures from them, an assistant U.S. attorney said.
Ivory Dickerson, a civil engineer, gained remote access to their computers, giving him the ability to type words onto their screens. He was arrested last December after girls at Rockledge High School told authorities their MySpace profiles had been hacked into and the person on the other end was demanding revealing and pornographic images.
He threatened to harm their family members, post nude pictures of them on the Web and, in one case, make a 17-year-old "the most well known girl at school" if they didn't do what he said, according to court records.
One victim, who was 15 at the time of the incident, told U.S. District Court Judge Anne Conway during Friday's sentencing hearing that she felt as though the computer intruder was watching her every move.
"I was afraid to walk outside because I didn't know if it was the neighbor," the girl said.
The victim's father called it a "living hell."
"The whole thing has turned our life upside down," the man said. His name is being withheld to protect the identity of his daughter.
Members of Dickerson's family in North Carolina also spoke, calling him a fair and honest person with many achievements, including being named "outstanding student" at his community college. They said Dickerson had a knack for making people laugh and that they would stand by him.
"I hate for this mistake to define the bigger picture of who he is," said his mother, Carmen Wake.
Dickerson's attorney, Harrison "Butch" Slaughter, urged a sentence that would give "light at the end of the tunnel."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg told the court that Dickerson used his computer-hacking skills -- "tools of terror," he called them -- to do evil.
While investigating the hacking case, the local FBI Innocent Images Task Force uncovered a cache of child pornography dating to 1998 and videos of Dickerson with young girls, thought to be about 15 years old. In the video, Dickerson boasts of drinking with them in his room and having sexual encounters with them, according to court records.
Conway handed Dickerson the maximum sentence on three counts of manufacturing child pornography, two counts of unlawful computer intrusion and one count of possession of child pornography. He pleaded guilty earlier this year.
Dickerson apologized but insisted that an unnamed co-conspirator was the one responsible for having direct contact with the girls.
"I would never have taunted those girls," he said.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/technology/orl-porn0107dec01,0,3042163.story
Does the punishment fit the crime? Is 110 years too much? Too little? Comical because there is no way he will survive for another 110 years and just be a burden on US taxpayers?