Facebook Stalker George Bronk Sentenced

By Cynthia Hsu, Esq. on July 25, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

George Bronk, known as the Facebook stalker, was sentenced to four years in prison for snooping around women's Facebook pages and e-mail accounts.

The crimes started in December 2009, and spanned months until the California man was caught last September. Bronk broke into women's e-mail accounts after figuring out the answers to their "security questions" by looking over their Facebook pages, reports the New York Daily News.

Once inside his victim's e-mail accounts, he found nude pictures that they had sent, and then forward the pictures to everybody in their contact list, the New York Daily News reports.

Bronk, 24, pled guilty to charges including computer intrusion, false impersonation and possession of child pornography. Bronk's crimes sent out e-mail messages to people in more than 17 states.

In sentencing Bronk, Judge Lawrence Brown likened his behavior to a "peeping Tom," and that "the intrusion of one's profile is no different than intruding one's home," the AP reports.

Why was Bronk charged with possession of child pornography? Most likely because some of the e-mail accounts he gained access to were accounts of minor children. As a result, any of the nude or semi-nude photos he found in those e-mail accounts were likely considered child pornography. Federal and state law both make it a crime to possess child pornography, distribute child pornography or sell child pornography.

So, if Bronk found nude pictures of the minors whose e-mail accounts he hacked into and then e-mailed it out to everybody on their contact list, it's possible that he could have also distributed child pornography, though he was not charged for it.

George Bronk, the Facebook stalker sentenced to four years in prison, is likely an example and a warning to all those who use social media. While you may think your password is strong, if your "reset password" question is too easy, your account may be at risk.

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