State Dept. employee faces cyberstalking, hacking charges

ATLANTA (AP) — Authorities say a U.S. State Department employee sent threatening emails to college-aged women in the U.S. from his computer at the U.S. Embassy in London.

A federal complaint in Atlanta states that Michael C. Ford accessed computer accounts of young women to obtain sexually explicit images of them. Authorities say in one case he posed as a Google employee to obtain a password.

Prosecutors say Ford then threatened to post the images online unless the women complied with his demands, such as requests that they shoot videos of other women undressing.

Ford is facing charges of cyberstalking and computer hacking. Authorities detained him recently at Atlanta’s airport as he prepared to board a flight back to London.