A hacker pleaded guilty of stealing the nude photos of high-profile female celebrities including Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence, Spider Man lead actress Kirsten Dunst, supermodel Kate Upton and women soccer figure Hope Solo.
Edward Majerczyk of Illinois appeared at the Chicago District Court on Tuesday and admitted participation in the hacking of the personal and sensitive images of celebrities.
According to NBC News, the 29-year-old Majerczyk was accused of getting into a phishing scheme, which gave him access between November 2013 to August 2014 to at least 300 iCloud and Gmail accounts, more than 30 of which belong to well-known celebrities.
The Daily Caller cited the Chicago Tribune's report that Majerczyk pleaded guilty to one count of ""unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information."
Thomas Needham, Majerczyk's lawyer, told the presiding judge that no evidence shows any effort on the part of his client to "sell or disseminate any of the images" and that the nude photo hack was done for the man's "own personal satisfaction and enjoyment."
The Daily Caller likewise quoted the Tribune in its identification of Majerczyk as one of the ' Celebgate ' or ' Fappening ' hackers targeting as many as 100 famous personalities and posting their illegally obtained videos and images on "websites like Reddit.com and 4chan.org."
Through an e-mail, the assistant U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of Illinois, Joseph Fitzpatrick, relayed that his office wanted to seek a prison sentence for Majerczyk that will last for nine months.
The Tribune further revealed that the hacker's sentencing is scheduled on Jan. 10, 2017.
Of all the identified victims, it was Lawrence who was the most out-spoken. In a previous interview with Vanity Fair, the Academy Award winning actress described the nude photo hack a violation of her privacy and considered it a "sex crime."
