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LI Political Intern Arrested in Nude Photo Blackmail Scandal

Written by Eric Anderson  |  24. April 2013

Adam Savader, 21 of Great Neck, was a high-profile political intern that worked with the Romney-Ryan presidential campaign. Now, the SUNY Farmingdale student is facing charges in Michigan due to an alleged scandal involving extortion and cyber stalking.

According to CBS News, Savader is being accused of attempting to extort nude photos from women. Officials say that he contacted several women anonymously using Google Voice. He allegedly sent text messages claiming that he had nude photos of the women, and threatened to show the photos to their family and friends unless they sent more.

The extortion attempts took place between May 2012 and February 2013. Some of the women he contacted were ex-classmates from college and high school. The women targeted lived in Long Island, Ann Arbor and Washington D.C.

Police first began investigating after one woman from Michigan informed police in September that she was contacted via text message by someone who identified himself as John Smith. “Smith” sent her a nude photo of herself, which she had stored in a private folder on her computer. He then threatened to send the photo to her parents if she did not send him more naked photos.

In another incident, Savader allegedly threatened to send a nude picture of a woman to the Republican National Committee as well as her family and friends if she did not send more pictures.

Officials say Savader also sent many explicit messages to the women. One of the victims said she received more than 80 text messages from Savader from September through December 2012.

Savader was a political intern, and has more than 70,000 followers on his Twitter account. He worked closely with Paul Ryan during the Romney presidential campaign. His Facebook profile has several pictures of himself with well-known Republican politicians including Romney, Ryan, Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich.

Savader and his attorney are denying the charges, and his neighbors in Great Neck say they are shocked by the news.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office filed charges against Savader in Detroit. He is being held until his bail hearing on Friday.

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