PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Bucks County woman is accused of cyberstalking and doctoring photos and videos of her daughter’s cheerleading rivals to try to get them kicked off the squad.
The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office charged 50-year-old Raffaela Spone with three misdemeanor counts of cyber harassment of a child and related offenses.
Between July and August of 2020, investigators say Spone manipulated photos from social media of three girls on the Victory Vipers cheerleading squad in Chalfont to make it appear they were drinking, smoking and even nude. The criminal complaint says Spone used four separate phone numbers to send the so-called “deepfake” photos to the girls themselves and to the gym where they trained.
According to the complaint, those activities would have led to the girls being dismissed from the cheer team.
Spone also sent messages to the girls and suggested they kill themselves, officials said.
Spone’s attorney, Robert Birch, told WPVI-TV he can’t comment because he said the DA hasn’t presented any evidence.
“She has absolutely denied what they’re charging her with and because of the fact that this has hit the press, she has received death threats. She has had to go to the police herself, they have a report," Birch said. “Her life has been turned upside down.”
“We have credible evidence to prove that she is the one, in fact, behind these deepfake, anonymous, digitally altered cyber harassment,” countered Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub.
As for Spone’s motivation, he said: “I think only she can truly know the answer, but what I can tell you is that her daughter and these other three young ladies, at one time, were all on this private cheer team together, so that is clearly the link.”
Investigators worked with the federal government in tracking down the separate phone numbers, which led them to Spone’s address.
In December, a search warrant was issued to seize electronic devices from her home. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 30.
The cheerleading team expressed sympathy for the families involved and said the team has a “very strict anti-bullying policy.”
“It’s getting more and more difficult to protect our children from cyber threats,” Weintraub added, “but that’s what we should always be vigilant to do. My goal is to make these young ladies feel safe, to restore their dignity and to protect other people from suffering the same fate.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.