A former college track and field coach was hit with a five-year prison term yesterday for running a cunning sextortion and cyberstalking operation against more than 100 women, using bogus online accounts to lure his victims into sending him explicit photos. Steve Waithe, 31, from Chicago and previously based in Somerville, Mass., leveraged his coaching position at several universities including Northeastern University and Penn State, to deceive female student-athletes and other women in a widespread cyber fraud.
After pleading guilty to multiple charges including wire fraud and cyberstalking in November 2023, Waithe was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris and will be on supervised release for three years after serving his term, during which he's banned from jobs that would place him in a position of authority over women or girls. According to a Department of Justice press release, Waithe's deceptive methods struck at the trust between coach and athlete, dating back to his Northeastern stint where he misdirected explicit photos from students' phones to himself.
The depth of Waithe's exploitation surfaced after he left Northeastern, when he pursued individuals through nearly two dozen fake social media and email profiles, including usernames like “anon.4887” and variations of “Privacy Protector.” He dangled the false hope of removing supposedly "found" compromising images from the internet to extract further explicit content from his targets. Still, his former Northeastern student-athletes were savvy to his ploys and did not fall victim to these schemes.
In his twisted plot, Waithe even created fictitious female personas like “Katie Janovich” and “Kathryn Svoboda” to solicit photos from women for a fake athletic study, promising body progress tracking in exchange for revealing images. His online activities uncovered 22 sham accounts and traced the scam's impact on at least 56 victims while he attempted to ensnare an additional 72, as per the FBI's investigation. FBI Special Agent Jodi Cohen, expressed her thoughts on the gravity of the situation stating, "This predator readily betrayed the trust of over 50 women, tricking them into sending him explicit photos which he then used to exploit and extort them."
The predator's cyberstalking extended to a particular victim whom he harassed by text and sordid social media messages, including by infiltrating her Snapchat account. Not only did he torment the victim, but he also sent these humiliating photos to her boyfriend, wrapped in lies about a supposed hacker. Despite being arrested in April 2021 and charged by a criminal complaint, Waithe persisted in his predatory behavior, preying on fresh prospects while under pre-trial supervision and even tempting another woman over Instagram with money in June 2022 for participating in a so-called "study."
The former coach’s conviction stands as a reminder of the sinister capabilities lurking behind the digital veneer of social media, a sobering echo in the words of Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy, "This defendant's conduct is deplorable. He exploited his trusted role as a coach to college athletes to engage in a sextortion campaign that has left a trail of emotional devastation in its wake. We stand by the courageous victims who came forward and help this Office hold Mr. Waithe accountable." The announcement of Waithe's sentencing reiterated the commitment of law enforcement agencies to fight against such severe invasions of privacy and personal security.
