International Pedo-Cyber-Stalker Nabbed by FBI

In a case that took 5 years of FBI effort, Patrick Connolly was arrested for hacking into the computers of young girls, making threats to them, and extorting them in exchange for nude pictures of them.

From the TCPalm here:

An Irish-born computer hacker, working on a U.S. military base in Baghdad, used elaborate computer-hacking methods, personal information and direct threats against four Brevard County teenage girls because he wanted nude photos of them. Some of the victims complied by sending pictures of themselves naked or in states of undress.

After a five-year investigation, FBI agents arrested Patrick Connolly on Friday in Atlanta on one count of computer hacking. He faces more charges, and is expected to be transferred to Orlando shortly.

Connolly started harassing a 14-year-old Rockledge girl in 2005, after hacking into her computer and contacting her using an instant-messaging service on America Online.  Using the screen name “Cucumbersn7,” he instructed the girl to take a picture of herself taking a shower. He then sent her proof that he knew her home address.  She sent a photo with clothes on, but he persisted, and then threatened to harm the girl’s sister.  The victim told authorities that she did not want to worry her pregnant mother, so she sent 10 photos of herself naked. She then stayed off the Internet for a long time.

However, when she finally went back online, Connolly found her again. He demanded more photos, and when the girl declined, he created a MySpace page featuring the previous photos she had sent him.

The second victim was a 17-year-old Rockledge girl who was contacted in a similar fashion in 2005.

Connolly embedded programs into the computers, which gave him remote control of the computers, and allowed him to look at photos and read files belonging to the teenage girls.  At various times, Connolly deleted permanent files on the computer of a second teenage girl for refusing to send suggestive images, and warned he would send explicit Webcam images made by a third teenage girl to her grandmother if she didn’t take more photos of herself.

Connolly worked in Baghdad for Tennessee-based EOD Technology Inc., a U.S. Department of Defense contractor. But a spokesman said he no longer was a contract employee with the company.

This guy was hardly an elite hacker, but he did manage to evade capture for a long time. The article goes into more detail on how the FBI played a cat and mouse game with the creep to try to determine who he was and where he was.