BOSTON -- A former track and field coach at Boston's Northeastern University was arrested Wednesday and charged with using bogus social media accounts to try to trick female student-athletes into sending him nude photos of themselves, prosecutors said. Steve Waithe, 28, of Chicago, is accused of creating fake social media accounts to contact track and field athletes and offering to help get rid of compromising photos of them he claimed to have found online. Waithe also would regularly ask to use female athletes' cellphones at practice and meets so that he could film their form. One victim told authorities that at least once she saw Waithe scrolling on her phone instead of recording. Waithe, who is charged with cyberstalking and wire fraud in Boston federal court, appeared before a judge in Chicago, and a hearing was scheduled for Friday to determine whether he should remain detained. Assistant U.
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Steve Waithe, 28, is in federal custody facing cyberstalking, extortion and fraud charges. He coached track and field for Northeastern, working with high jump and pole vaulters from to But in a different scheme, 10 women did send him nearly nude or semi-nude photos. Sexual harassment is very prevalent in college. Northeastern said it fired Waithe in February after an investigation of alleged inappropriate conduct toward female student-athletes. The FBI is seeking to identify other potential victims.
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Former Northeastern University track and field coach Steve Waithe is facing federal charges in connection with what prosecutors said was a scheme to trick female student-athletes into sending him nude or semi-nude photos. Waithe, 28, of Chicago, Illinois, also allegedly cyberstalked at least one female student-athlete, according to prosecutors. He was arrested by the FBI at his home in Chicago and is expected to make a court appearance there later Wednesday. Prosecutors allege that Waithe frequently asked to use female athletes' cell phones under the pretense of filming their form at practice and meets. At times, he was seen scrolling through the phones. Beginning in at least February , prosecutors say Waithe perpetrated a scheme to dupe female Northeastern track and field athletes into sending him nude or semi-nude photos of themselves. He allegedly contacted the victims on social media using various pseudonyms, told them he had found compromising photos of them online and offered to help get the photos removed from the internet. Under this pretense, he allegedly requested additional nude or semi-nude photos he could use for reverse image searches. Waithe also allegedly cyberstalked at least one female Northeastern student-athlete from June 21, to Oct. The investigation revealed that Google records tied to Waithe included searches for information on how to hack Snapchat accounts and how to keep people from tracing a fake Instagram account back to him.
A former Northeastern University track and field coach faces federal charges after allegedly luring young women into sending him nude photos. Steve Waithe, 28, of Chicago, was arrested Wednesday in Illinois and charged with cyberstalking and wire fraud. Waithe lived in Somerville before moving to Chicago. According to the criminal complaint, Waithe would take the phones of women on the team, ostensibly to record them as they trained. But several women reported seeing him scroll through their phones. After departing the school, Waithe allegedly reached out to several of the same Northeastern athletes using fake social media accounts. Prosecutors allege that Waithe would tell women he found compromising images of them online, offer to help the athletes identify and remove the photos, but only after they sent him more nudes. The additional photos, he said, would be used for "reverse image searches," according to the complaint. The complaint also alleges Waithe stalked another Northeastern student and broke into her Snapchat account.
