A Pennsylvania mother allegedly created “deepfake” images of teenagers to sabotage her daughter’s cheerleading rivals.
Raffaela Spone, a 50-year-old Bucks County resident, is accused of anonymously sending at least three doctored photos and videos of at least three cheerleaders that depicted the girls “nude, drinking alcohol, or vaping” to the team’s coaches last year, according to an affidavit for probable cause provided to the Washington Examiner by Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub’s office. One of the girls reportedly depicted in the doctored images was M.H., the juvenile daughter of Hilltown Township resident Jennifer Hime.
“The altered video showed M.H. vaping which could have resulted in her being dismissed from the cheer team,” the affidavit said.
‘DEEPFAKES’ A NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT
After Hime contacted police on July 8 and investigators obtained a search warrant, Spone continued to send messages to M.H. throughout the month, with one of the texts saying, “You should kill yourself.”
Following an analysis, authorities determined the images were “deepfaked,” or digitally altered, and traced the phone number sending the anonymous messages to a website called Bandwidth.com, which specializes in selling to telemarketers. The investigators ultimately traced the anonymous messages to Spone’s house in December.
George Ratel, the father of one of the alleged victims, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he was distressed by the situation.
“I don’t know what would push her to this point,” Ratel said. “As a dad, I was pretty upset about it. It’s an image put out there of my daughter that is simply not true.”
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Spone was charged last week with misdemeanor counts of cyber harassment of a child and related offenses and ordered to appear at a preliminary hearing on March 30. If convicted, Spone could face from six months to a year in prison.
