An inactive email address was the back door an Abbotsford hacker needed to hijack the social media accounts of pop sensation Carly Rae Jepsen, a provincial court heard Friday.
Christopher David Long turned himself in to police last December after Vancouver police received a tip that the “Call Me Maybe” singer may have had her personal information compromised.
In May, Long pleaded guilty to charges including mischief and data and identity fraud and Friday, he was back in court for a sentencing hearing.
“No comment,” the 25-year-old said as he exited Abbotsford Provincial Court, using a pad of legal paper to conceal his face from the throng of reporters in tow.
New details revealed in court Friday gave insight into how Long infiltrated Jepsen’s online accounts.
“Mr. Long, through an inactive email account that had previously belonged to Ms. Jepsen, was able to gain access to her current, at that time, email account,” said Crown spokesman Neil Mackenzie. “Through that email account, he was also able to gain access to a number of her social media sites.”
He changed passwords for some of those accounts and had a telephone company change one of Jepsen’s phone numbers, and also “downloaded some material from some personal emails,” according to Mackenzie.
Among the material Long accessed and downloaded were personal documents including Jepsen’s recording contract and her tour schedule.
“He also downloaded a number of photographs and videos; some of those were of a personal and sensitive nature,” Mackenzie said.
Long then communicated with gossip website TMZ, but it is unclear whether he was trying to sell any of the photos or videos, he said.
Tabloid reports initially suggested nude photos may have been involved, but that has never been confirmed.
Long also admitted he posted an inappropriate photograph and comment on one of Jepsen’s social media sites – creating the impression it was posted by her.
The man’s actions were “distressing” for Jepsen and her boyfriend at the time, Jordi Ashworth, who attended the hearing.
“What happened was an unfortunate chain of events with an online harassment and torment, really,” said Ashworth, an architect who parted ways with Jepsen after the incident.
“It was scary, it was really scary,” he said. “All of these things start to go through your head, so it’s worrisome. We didn’t know what this guy was trying to do or what information he was going after.”
He described his fear as his and Jepsen’s online accounts including Hotmail, Facebook and Instagram fell like dominoes, each taken over by the hacker.
“It was constantly looking over your shoulder,” he said. “To have that taken over is a huge invasion of privacy.”
Ashworth said he hoped Long would see some jail time, but was unsure what to expect.
“This being sort of a precedent-setting case…(SPACE) the idea is to try and find some common ground that the public can feel happy with what happened,” he said. “Celebrity or no celebrity, this happened to a person.”
Crown is seeking a four-month custodial for Long, who has no previous criminal record.
“That was the sentencing position that Crown developed, taking a look at what limited case law there is,” Mackenzie said.
A decision had not been announced by 4 p.m. Friday and the hearing was likely to be held over until next week.
With files from CTV British Columbia’s Michele Brunoro
