A Pennsylvania mother allegedly sent deepfake photos and video of her teenage daughter’s cheerleading rivals depicting them naked, drinking and smoking to their coaches in a bid to get them kicked off the team, the Hilltown Township Police Department said.
Raffaela Spone, 50, allegedly sent the manipulated photos and video to at least three of her daughter’s teammates and their coaches on the cheerleading team, the Victory Vipers, in Chalfont, Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub’s office said, according to the The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Spone also anonymously sent messages to the victims urging them to kill themselves, according to the paper’s report of the district attorney’s charges.
Spone, 50, of Chalfont, was charged late last week with misdemeanor counts of cyber harassment of a child and related offenses, according to the affidavit of probable cause for her arrest. She was released on the condition that she appear at a preliminary hearing on March 30. There was no indication she had hired an attorney, and attempts to reach her Friday by phone or email were unsuccessful.
