A former Northeastern University track and field coach pled guilty to federal charges in a scheme to trick female student-athletes into sending him nude or semi-nude photos. He also pled guilty to cyberstalking and fraud charges.
Steve Waithe, 30, of Chicago, Illinois, pled guilty in federal court on Boston Tuesday to 12 counts of wire fraud, one count of cyberstalking, one count of conspiracy to commit computer fraud; and one count of computer fraud, aiding and abetting.
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According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Massachusetts, while working as a track and field coach at Northeastern Waithe took the phones of female athletes, claiming he would film them at practice and meets. In reality, prosecutors said, he went through the phones and found previously sexually explicit pictures that he then sent to himself.
Waithe was a track and field coach at Northeastern in Boston from October 2018 to February 2019, when, the school says, he was fired as a result of a university investigation into his “inappropriate conduct toward female student athletes.”
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Waithe also previously worked as a track and field coach at Penn State University, Illinois Institute of Technology, the University of Tennessee and Concordia University Chicago.
The case also concerned a period of time later, starting around February 2020, when authorities said Waithe created fake social media accounts to dupe women into sending him photos. According to court documents, using anonymous accounts, Waithe would reach out to women and claim he had found compromising photos of them online. He offered the victims "help" in scrubbing these from the internet, then requested nude photos that he claimed he would use for "reverse image searches" to track down any incriminating materials.
Waithe also allegedly cyberstalked at least one Northeastern student-athlete from June 21, 2020 to Oct. 3, 2020, through messages sent via social media, an anonymous phone number and intrusion into her Snapchat account. The harassing messages included explicit photos Waithe had stolen when the victim was on the Northeastern track and field team. 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.
Under the premise of "athlete research" or "body development," he also allegedly emailed prospective victims using female names, describing a fake study for athletes and requesting information relating to height, weight and diet habits. The emails also included requests for victims to send photos of themselves in a uniform or bathing suit "to show as much skin as possible." Prosecutors said the emails often included attachments of sample nude and semi-nude images to illustrate the types of photos the victims should send.
Investigators said they identified multiple victims and found hundreds of nude and semi-nude images of victims of the scheme in Waithe's email accounts.
Waithe is scheduled for sentencing on March 6, 2024. Each charge of wire fraud could carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Anyone with questions about this case can contact authorities at 617-748-3274.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
