It is crazy what people do. Why would anyone film themselves having sex or take sexually provocative photos of themselves in this day and age? One young New Hampshire woman, whose laptop was stolen, is wishing she never had.

For those of you who don’t know what it is, sextortion—it's not just limited to creeps you have never met; now even people you know are getting in on the act. It is when someone steals soemthing of yours with sexually explicit photos and tries to extort you or face exposure.

The victim had her MacBook Pro and some underwear stolen. Making it even worse was the victim's knowledge that her now-stolen laptop contained not just e-mails and Web browsing history, but several years' worth of private, sexual pictures of her and several partners. She hoped the thief wouldn't find them.

Three months later she started receiving emails demanding more photos.

The Capture

Working with the local police and the Secret Service she asked her stalker for an explicit description of what he would do if she didn't send the material he wanted.

He then mentioned the name of the woman's young child and provided their home address; he threatened to send the woman's sexual photos to her employer, former husband, and current boyfriend. Obviously, the thief knew her personally.

The Secret Service was identifying the sextortionist with the most obvious tool in their toolbox: the IP address lookup. This wasn't a random hit; the victim actually knew the woman. Indeed, it was one of her friends—and the friend's husband worked for the US Navy.

The woman’s husband John Bryan Villegas was arrested the next day and hauled before a federal magistrate, where he swore that he lacked the money to defend himself and was appointed a federal defender. Villegas could face up to seven total years in prison for making threats and for computer intrusion, and up to $500,000 in restitution.

Friends stealing from friends, sextortion and lust – Villegas is in need of serious help. Hopefully he will rehabilitate behind bars with a stop theft class and counseling. What do you think of this story?