Ex-Northeastern track and field coach sentenced for scamming nude photos from 50 victims

A former track and field coach was sentenced to five years in prison on Wednesday in a Boston court for scamming women to get their nude photos, NBC 10 Boston reports.

Last year, Steve Waithe pleaded guilty to 14 counts of fraud and cyberstalking after he was investigated for tricking victims through fake social media and email accounts. Prosecutors said the former Northeastern University coach was convicted of cyberstalking for sending messages to a victim via text and social media and for hacking into her Snapchat account.

Prosecutors said that Waithe, who worked at the school from October 2018 to February 2019, received photos from 50 victims and made attempts to get them from 72 additional victims.

The local news outlet said that a handful of victims testified, often holding back tears while describing feeling manipulated and violated even after he was arrested in 2021 in Chicago.

“He was willing to violate university rules. He was willing to violate conditions of release,” a victim said. “I don’t believe even after he gets out he will stop. I'm honestly begging that you give him as much time as possible.”

Per the criminal complaint that was filed, Northeastern began a Title IX investigation at the end of Waithe's first semester at the school after it received complaints of sexual harassment. The coach was dismissed when the investigation concluded.

Prosecutors said Waithe would offer to help women get rid of nude or semi-nude photos that he claimed to find online. He would then ask them to send even more graphic photos, claiming he could "reverse image search" them.

He was accused of creating two public profiles as "Katie Janovich" and "Kathryn Svoboda" and would ask victims for nude photos under the guise of "athlete research" or "body development."

Waithe also asked to use student athletes' phones to record them during practice, but instead scrolled through their camera roll and sent explicit photos to himself.

Besides Northeastern, Waithe coached at Penn State University — where he was an All-American in track, Illinois Institute of Technology, the University of Tennessee, and Concordia University Chicago.

Contributing: Chris Bumbaca, USA TODAY