A Philly man pleaded guilty to stealing nude images of 5 Pennsylvania women and posting them online
Tyler J. Jones, 34, pleaded guilty Friday to eight felonies and nine misdemeanors, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.
A Philadelphia man, who several women in the region accused of posting stolen intimate photos of them, has pleaded guilty to stealing the images of five victims from their cellphones and posting them online without their permission.
Tyler J. Jones, 34, pleaded guilty Friday to eight felonies and nine misdemeanors, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office. He is slated to serve 2-1/2 to 5 years in state prison followed by five years’ probation.
The victims at the center of the case could not be immediately reached or declined to comment.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday, whose office accepted the case on referral from the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, said prison is the “appropriate resolution for this disturbing case.”
“Every time the defendant posted one of these stolen images or videos — and every time that content was viewed online — the person depicted was revictimized," he said in a statement.
Jones was convicted in 2013 of secretly recording two women and a 17-year-old girl in a bathroom and posting the recordings on platforms such as Discord, Telegram, and 4Chan — an online message board known for racist and explicit content.
In this more recent case, four of the Philadelphia victims told The Inquirer last year that Jones presented with a “veneer of a ‘nice guy.’” They said Jones hid his past from them or claimed he’d changed, only to betray them. Jones targeted two people he was in relationships with and their friends, as well as a colleague’s wife.
One woman said she started experiencing nightmares; all became less trusting of strangers.
Prosecutors said in at least one instance in the Pennsylvania cases, Jones posted the victim’s full name, something he’d allegedly done to a New Jersey woman as well.
In that instance, a Gloucester County woman who went by J.G. in civil court filings accused Jones of repeatedly posting photos he stole from her phone on websites, including 4chan, with her identifying information. A federal judge awarded the woman $8.7 million in damages last year, believed to be the biggest judgment under a 2022 federal law.
Because Jones was posting J.G.’s images on websites with lax moderation policies on explicit content, she said others were able to download and repost them. In at least 10 instances, people tried to contact J.G. in an attempt to “strike up a lewd conversation with her,” according to the lawsuit.
Experts and victim advocates say the type of crimes Jones was accused of, called image-based sexual abuse, are a growing problem and likely underreported because some victims don’t know their photos are online.
Sunday, who had previously called Jones’ behavior “cruel and despicable,” said Friday that “engaging in this deviant criminal conduct has been a lifestyle for this defendant.”
As part of his plea, Jones must also remain registered a sex offender for 15 years and is barred from contacting the victims.
Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Zachary Shaffer will formally issue his sentence Oct. 30.
