Peruvian national arrested in hoax
Police: Nunez Santos sought nude photos from girls, then sent threats to their schools
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A Peruvian national has been arrested on multiple charges, including sending hoax bomb threats to area school districts last week.
Eddie Manuel Nunez Santos, 33, was arrested Tuesday in Lima, Peru, on charges of sending threats to more than 150 school districts, synagogues, airports, hospitals and a shopping mall in the United States between Sept. 15-21.
The 33-year-old allegedly sent threats spanning multiple states, including New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Arizona and Alaska, with the threats resulting in massive disruptions to the targeted communities, including evacuations of thousands of schoolchildren, a lockdown of a hospital and flight delays, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.
While the arrest of Nunez Santos is seen as a win for law enforcement, threats and other criminal behavior conducted over the internet remain a concern, local school officials said.
"If it is not a hoax or a threat, they are trying to steal our data," said Paul Ruhlman, superintendent of Bedford Area School District.
"It is sad that someone in Peru, who is thousands of miles away, can disrupt schools so much, which is an emotional target for many," he said.
Nunez Santos is also accused of soliciting nude and sexually explicit photographs from multiple minor girls online, and appears to have sent at least some of the bomb threats targeting institutions in areas where those minors live.
The threats directed the targets to call telephone numbers associated with those minors, charging documents state.
Nunez Santos' efforts to compel young girls to send sexually explicit photos is concerning, Ruhlman said.
The internet and social media have exposed young people to more of the world, which can be both a positive and negative, Ruhlman said.
"It is worrying how being connected to the world has given bad actors like these a place to play out their schemes and they do not care who they hurt with their actions," he said Friday.
When area schools were dealing with the threats last week, some school officials said they had been warned by law enforcement to be on the lookout for the hoax coming from specific IP addresses. School officials were also told the exact wording of the threats, which allowed them to make decisions on how to deal with the situation.
Claysburg-Kimmel and Hollidaysburg Area school districts evacuated the district's buildings and conducted thorough scans for anything suspicious.
Bedford Area and Spring Cove school districts heightened security, but did not evacuate after discussing the situation with law enforcement officials, those district leaders said.
Ben Caldwell, Hollidaysburg Area human resources and transportation director, said he is glad the person allegedly responsible for the email threats was arrested.
"I hope that no one else will replicate what they have done," he said.
Probe began Sept. 15
Nunez Santos faces five counts -- threatening interstate communications, false information and hoaxes, attempted sexual exploitation of a child, attempted coercion and enticement of a minor and attempted receipt of child pornography. The charges carry sentences ranging from a maximum five years in prison for transmitting threatening interstate communications to a maximum of life in prison for attempting to coerce or entice a minor.
The complaint against Nunez Santos and filed in Manhattan federal court, was unsealed Tuesday, said Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and James Smith, the assistant director in charge of the New York Federal Bureau of Investigation office.
While local school districts were hit with the threats late last week, the complaint shows the investigation began Sept. 15, when the FBI began receiving reports of bomb threats, sent primarily via email or online contact forms, to institutions in multiple states.
Through its investigation, including the examination of email, phone and Internet Protocol address data, the FBI was able to determine that Nunez Santos was responsible.
Court documents state Nunez Santos is a website developer and apparently used his skills to pretend to be a 15-year-old boy named "Lucas" then retaliated against the girls who refused his requests for sexually explicit photographs by tying their telephone numbers and IP addresses to the threats.
Victim 1, a 17-year-old living in Pennsylvania, said that since August, she and two female friends, identified in court documents as victim 2 and 3, communicated via an online game platform. Victim 3, court documents state, is 13 years old.
Victim 2 warned Victim 1 that "Lucas" asked for nude photographs.
Lucas then attempted to communicate with Victim 1 himself, but she blocked him.
After that, Lucas told Victim 3 that he would bomb Victim 1's school. Court documents state that Victim 1's phone number was associated with multiple bomb threats sent Sept. 15.
Lucas, after being informed that Victim 3 was 13 years old, asked her to send nude photographs. Victim 3's phone number was associated with bomb threats made about Sept. 21, court documents state.
Victim 4, from New York and now 16 years old, began communicating with Lucas in June, when she was 15 years old, the report states. When told her age, Lucas repeatedly asked for nude photographs. After Victim 4 refused, he threatened her, stating he would plant bombs in her school district, which he believed to be in Westchester County, and he would kill her. Victim 4's IP address was associated with threats sent Sept. 20.
The threats all contained substantially similar content, court documents state.
In total, between Sept. 15 and Sept. 21, the FBI received reports of well over 150 such threats, all containing substantially similar language.
"As alleged, the defendant's relentless campaign of false bomb threats caused an immediate mobilization by federal and state authorities, diverting critical law enforcement and public safety resources, and caused fear in hundreds of communities across this country," Williams stated in a press release. "The defendant allegedly engaged in this reprehensible and socially destructive conduct in a twisted attempt to retaliate against teenage girls who refused his requests for nude and sexually explicit photographs."
"Not only did Santos allegedly email hundreds of hoax bomb threats terrorizing schools, hospitals, and houses of worship, he also perversely tried to sextort innocent teenage girls," Smith stated. "His actions wasted limited law enforcement resources, put first responders in unnecessary danger, and victimized children."
The investigation into the threats involved FBI field offices in multiple states and the FBI's New York Joint Terrorism Task Force.
This case is being handled by the National Security and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Bodansky is in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorney James Donnelly of the Counterterrorism Section.