Newton man admits he was a cyberstalking scum who tried to ruin woman's life

Ryan Lin, 25, pleaded guilty today to seven federal counts of cyberstalking, five counts of distribution of child pornography, nine counts of making hoax bomb threats, three counts of computer fraud and abuse and one count of aggravated identity theft, in a deal that could put him behind bars for up to 17 1/2 years.

As part of his campaign against the woman, Lin called in some 100 bomb threats under the woman's name to Newton and Waltham institutions, including Brandeis University, Bentley University and the Waltham Public Library. The US Attorney's office in Boston reports:

From May 2016 through Oct. 5, 2017, Lin engaged in an extensive cyberstalking campaign against a 24-year-old female victim. Lin hacked into the victim’s online accounts and devices and stole the victim’s private photographs, personally identifiable information, and private diary entries, which contained highly sensitive details about her medical, psychological and sexual history, and distributed the material to hundreds of people associated with her.

Lin also created and posted fraudulent online profiles in the victim’s name and solicited rape fantasies, including “gang bang,” and other sexual activities, which in turn caused men to show up at the victim’s home. He also engaged in a number of other activities targeting the female victim, including relentless anonymous text messaging and hoaxes.

In addition to his former housemate, Lin engaged in cyberstalking activity aimed at six other individuals. Some were associated with the former housemate, and others were entirely unrelated. The additional victims include a female who was also Lin’s housemate in Newton at the time of Lin’s arrest. On multiple occasions, Lin also sent sexually explicit images of prepubescent children on an unsolicited basis to the victim’s mother, the victim’s co-worker and housemate, a friend of the victim who resided in New Jersey, and two of Lin’s former classmates in New York.

Sentencing was scheduled for Sept. 14.