Two former Congressional staff members were indicted on Thursday as part of a cyberstalking case against them in which they allegedly shared nude photos of the congresswoman they were working for.
Juan R. McCullum, 35, and Dorene Browne-Louis, 45, both worked for Rep. Stacey Plaskett of Virginia, who confirmed that she was the “Delegate S.P.” referred to in nude pictures that had circulated last year.
Plaskett said that she had been the victim of hacking and said in a statement to Politico last year that someone had gotten into her computer to copy “photographs and a private family video” of her and her husband, Jonathan Buckney-Small. In the “bizarre” footage, Plaskett appeared to be filming Buckney-Small while he was naked and putting on makeup.
According to the indictment, the hacking occurred when McCullum offered to fix her iPhone in March 2016. He was given her password and sent to the Apple Store, and at some point, he stumbled upon the photos. He got a different job in July 2016, after which time he decided to distribute the images.
“After McCullum left the House member’s staff, he engaged in a course of conduct that included creating a Hotmail account and a Facebook social media account, using a fictitious name, to distribute and post the private images and videos,” prosecutors said. “Further…he encouraged others on social media to redistribute the images and videos in the member’s congressional district.”
While McCullum was hit with two counts of cyberstalking, Browne-Louis was hit with two counts of obstruction of justice, with prosecutors claiming that she knew about McCullum’s actions and even helped him delete incriminating text messages and lied to investigators.