Anti-Abortion 'Hactivist' Sentenced

(Posted on 14/04/12)

James Jeffery, who was an admitted member of the hack group Anonymous, was sentenced to 32 months in prison. The ruling came down on Friday.

Jeffery, known online as "Pablo Escobar", said he felt the need to take a stand after finding out two women he knows had undergone abortions. Along with stealing the information of 10,000 -plus women from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, Jeffery also admitted to hi jacking the agency website and placing anti-abortion messages on its home page. His admissions are in violation of the Computer Misuse Act.

Part of his message reads, "An unborn child does not have an opinion, a choice or any rights... who gave you the right to murder an unborn child and profit from that murder?" He then attacks the collective abortion effort and said through the use of "skillful marketing" providers sell their "product" to these women.

During the many hours spent with investigators, Jeffery also said he could easily hack into major international and overseas websites such as the FBI, West Midlands Police, the House of Parliament and the United States Navy - plus several more.

The judge did not mince his words. He admonished Jeffrey for being "proud" of his actions and for tweeting about what he'd done.

Jeffery's solicitor, Shaun Wallace, spoke on behalf of his client and said the initial goal was to test the website's vulnerability. Before long, though, curiosity got the best of him and from there he became "less responsible". The repercussions, had Jeffery published the information on those women, could have been catastrophic. The judge weighed that in his decision too and said he hopes the sentence would serve as a deterrent for other would-be hackers.