Raffaela Spone, a 50-year-old Bucks County woman was arrested March 10th for extreme cyberbullying. Spone had created deepfakes of cheerleaders, including ones of the girls nude, and sent them to the coaches. She was doing this to members of the Victory Vipers, a cheerleading program, just outside Doylestown, Pennsylvania.
She’s now free but will be facing the charges in the courtroom. People surmise that she did this so that her daughter’s rivals would be out of the way. Her daughter is on the same team as the girls that were targeted.
This was a long endeavor of harassing these girls. In July a parent of one of the girls said they began receiving text messages encouraging to kill herself.
The deepfakes were of the girls naked, drinking, or smoking and sent in an attempt to get them kicked off the team. According to sources Spone’s daughter had no idea this was going on. Police ceased the technology in Spone’s home which has tons of evidence including apps to hide phone numbers and doctor images.
In this age of social media it’s easier than ever to get pictures of people. Spone used the girls Facebook and other social media images to superimpose them on other images.
While deepfakes are generally used for fun, like when Tom Holland and Robert Downey Jr. taking on the roles of Doc and Marty from “Back to the Future” it can also be used for things like this.
Spone is charged with six misdemeanor counts.