An Athens man was sentenced to 8-12 years in prison on Friday after pleading guilty to extorting, stalking and posting nude videos of his ex-girlfriend online last year.
In June 2020, 27-year-old Patrick Crist's ex-girlfriend told authorities her social media accounts were hacked and images were being downloaded from the accounts.
The victim said she started getting threatening messages if she did not hand over her passwords to those accounts.
Videos of the victim were later posted on a pornographic website.
During the investigation, it was found the victim was also underage during some of the offenses, according to the Athens County Prosecutor's Office.
In April, the prosecutor's office charged Crist with three counts of extortion, two counts of menacing by stalking, telecommunications harassment and non-consensual dissemination of private sexual images.
Judge George McCarthy accepted Crist's guilty plea to all the charges.
The prosecution and defense presented the 8-12 year prison sentence to McCarthy and he agreed.
In addition to the prison sentence, Crist must also register as a Tier II sex offender, be subject to five years of mandatory post-release control and cannot have contact with the victim, her friends or her family.
The victim had a brief statement read in court which admonished Crist for his actions and said there was “no need for your pointless revenge.”
“These are very serious (charges) and very poor lack of judgment on your part,” McCarthy told Crist. “You’re paying a significant price for the ridiculous acts committed.”
Crist did not comment when given the opportunity.
