3 plead guilty to sharing stolen nude images of female students
Three former students at the Plymouth-Canton Educational Park (PCEP) have entered guilty pleas to federal charges in the theft of personal and private images of former female students at the educational park. Federal court indictments accused the men of posting some of the intimate images to social media in addition to sharing them among themselves.
Federal prosecutors claimed Daniel Bihn, Michael Justus and Bernard Rice, all former Plymouth-Canton students, were involved in a years-long conspiracy using a Russian website and a messaging application to trade and post the nude and semi-nude photos taken and/or altered without the knowledge or consent of the women. According to court documents, some of the images were allegedly manipulated and taken from other web applications, including at least one which is password protected. Prosecutors alleged the photos were used without the consent of the women involved, some of whom were minors at the time. The photos, prosecutors claim, were posted on websites “for the world to access without their (the women’s) knowledge or consent.”
The three allegedly formed their own private group in which Justus and Rice provided names of women to Bihn, who would hack into the victims' Snapchat accounts and steal nude and semi-nude photos. At least eight women were affected in the alleged conspiracy, according to court filings.
Authorities received a complaint in August of 2020 from a victim reporting the discovery of nude photos of herself on the internet along with intimate photos of other women with whom she attended high school. Federal agents followed a forensic trail to the three defendants, according to published reports of the court filings and claimed the three defendants shared “unlawfully obtained nude images of females” who had attended the Plymouth Canton high schools until 2013. Court filings claimed one victim discovered an image of herself on the internet which had been altered to make it appear she was nude while the original photo showed her wearing a bathing suit, according to prosecutors. Federal agents raided Bihn’s home in 2021 and seized electronic equipment which contained evidence of the crimes, according to prosecutors.
The men were charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and unlawful computer activity in September of 2024.
Bihn, Rice, and Justus all pleaded guilty, according to court records.
Bihn, a former Eagle Scout, was sentenced to time served, plus two years of probation. He was also ordered to pay a $2,000 fine, plus restitution of $4,079.93 to one victim and $2,000 to another.
Rice was sentenced in May to two years of probation and ordered to pay a $500 fine. Justus pleaded guilty in November. He is scheduled to be sentenced March 10.
