A federal judge on Monday denied bail for a North Carolina civil engineer accused of hacking into the Web pages of Brevard County high-school girls and then extorting nude pictures from them.
Ivory Dickerson, 32, was arrested Dec.1 by Maitland-based FBI task-force agents who were investigating a series of reported hackings into MySpace.com profiles belonging to Rockledge High School students.
"It's essentially terrorism against these girls," U.S. Magistrate Judge James Glazebrook said after an hourlong detention hearing for Dickerson.
According to an FBI criminal complaint, Dickerson targeted his victims using computer viruses that would give him remote access to his victims' hard drives. He is charged with intentionally accessing a computer without authorization, or hacking, which is a felony. He pleaded not guilty last week and if convicted, could face up to 10 years in prison.
The first of the four victims, who were 15 and 16 years old at the time, reported that she was contacted via America Online's instant-messaging program in June 2005 by someone who had visited her MySpace.com page.
The person "told her to send him a picture of herself in the shower" and "advised that he knew where she lived and then provided the address." He threatened to hurt her sister if she didn't comply, the complaint states. She then sent a series of digital images -- including some in which she was naked -- to Dickerson, who posted some of them on his MySpace.com page.
By August 2005, a second Rockledge victim reported online contact with someone using the same AOL screen name. The person demanded "revealing" pictures. He threatened to make her "the most well known girl at school" if she did not provide them.
Using special software and subpoenaed records from software companies and Internet providers, FBI investigators say, they were able to trace the electronic communication to Dickerson's home in November 2005. At the time, they thought his computer might have been taken over by someone else who was using it to harass the girls. After investigators interviewed Dickerson, they say, the threats stopped.
However, by June 2006, a fourth victim reported being contacted by someone with the same screen name, and FBI agents then assumed the victim's online identity to conduct a sting operation.
Detective Steve McElyea, a Seminole County deputy sheriff assigned to the FBI Innocent Images group, on Monday testified that in addition to evidence that he hacked into the teens' MySpace pages, one of Dickerson's computer hard drives at his North Carolina home contained video files of himself and a 13-year-old girl engaged in bestiality.
After McElyea spoke, four of Dickerson's relatives from North Carolina testified about his character and promised to make him available for future court proceedings if the judge allowed him to go home.
"We are totally supportive," said brother-in-law Dwayne McMillian. Harrison "Butch" Slaughter, Dickerson's attorney, unsuccessfully tried to persuade Glazebrook to grant bail, saying there was no "proof beyond a reasonable doubt" about the charges.
But Glazebrook later ruled against Dickerson despite his lack of a criminal record and his family's pledge to ensure his future court appearances.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg said Dickerson sexually assaulted the 13-year-old girl in the video and did not deserve to be released. "Mr. Dickerson is a . . . predator," he said. "He's a person who preys on children."
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