Nude Photos Leak Threat: Ex-NASA Contractor Arrested For Targeting 7 Women

A former NASA contractor was arrested Wednesday for allegedly threatening to publish nude photos of seven women on the internet if they refused to supply him with more explicit photos. In a statement, the Department of Justice said the Los Angeles man was charged with "stalking, unauthorized access to a protected computer, and aggravated identity theft."

The District Attorney's Office in California identified the man as Richard Gregory Bauer, 28, an ex-contractor at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center. He used several aliases including “Steve Smith,” “John Smith,” and “Garret,” to target the women. He was arrested by special agents with NASA’s Office of Inspector General at his Mid-Wilshire residence.

A 14-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury Aug. 28 stated that Bauer harassed the victims on Facebook and through emails. He claimed to possess nude photos of the victims and threatened to post them online "unless the women sent him additional photos in various stages of undress."

"Bauer is also charged in the indictment with unauthorized access to computers and accounts owned by victims," the department's statement read.

According to the indictment, during stalking some of his victims, Bauer used his true identity to contact the women on Facebook and posted a series of questions, purportedly as part of a project he was working on for his “human societies class.”

"Some of the questions included typical questions used to reset online passwords, such as the name of your first pet or the city where your parents met," the department wrote.

He also allegedly convinced victims to install malware by claiming he needed their help in testing software he claimed to have written.

This reportedly gave him unauthorized access to the victims' computers and find passwords for websites and e-mail accounts.

If convicted, Bauer would face a statutory maximum sentence of 64 years in federal prison. Assistant Attorney Khaldoun Shobaki of the Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes Section is prosecuting the case.