Two former congressional staffers have been indicted for distributing nude photos and videos of an unnamed House member through social media.
According to news reports, Juan R. McCullum was charged with two counts of cyberstalking and Dorene Browne-Louis was charged two counts of obstruction of justice. The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Channing Phillips and Matthew Verderosa, Chief of the U.S. Capitol Police announced the indictments on Thursday.
Although the member of congress is not named, both McCullum and Brown-Louis worked for Del. Stacey Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin Islands at the same time. Plaskett also confirmed she was the victim by releasing a statement.
“Last year my privacy was invaded which was followed by an organized smear campaign and defamatory press reports concerning both me and my family.”
According to documents, McCullum stole nude photos and videos of the delegate in March 2016 after offering to repair her iPhone. A few months later, he created fake email and social media accounts to share the nude content. He shared the images and videos with Browne-Louis.
Browne-Louis was caught in the web further by deleting text messages from McCullum and making misleading statements to law enforcement and a federal grand jury.
McCullum and Brown-Louis are now facing five and twenty years respectively, as well as possible fines.