Max Yang Chen

Convicted by guilty plea; sentencing pending. Chen pleaded guilty to cyberstalking and aggravated identity theft after compromising hundreds of young women’s social media accounts and collecting explicit images of more than 6,000 of them; he also faces a pending attempted production of child pornography charge in California.

Introduction

Max Yang Chen, 31, of San Jose, California, pleaded guilty to cyberstalking and aggravated identity theft after prosecutors said he compromised the social media accounts of hundreds of young women, searched them for sexually explicit photographs, and used what he found to humiliate and extort them . The plea, entered before U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr. and announced October 23, 2026, covered conduct between March 2021 and June 18, 2023 that included three victims in Western New York but reached far beyond the district . In total, prosecutors say Chen obtained and possessed hundreds of thousands of explicit images and videos of more than six thousand young women .

Background Information

According to the plea agreement, Chen gained unauthorized access to at least 200 social media accounts belonging to victims in the Western District of New York and elsewhere . Once inside an account, he searched it for sexually explicit photographs of the account holder and downloaded them . He also directly contacted over 200 young women whose explicit images he had obtained, typically sending sexually demeaning or violent messages . The two counts to which he pleaded carry a combined maximum penalty of seven years in prison and a $250,000 fine, with sentencing scheduled at a later date .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

The plea agreement lays out a methodical campaign of digital extortion. After obtaining a victim’s explicit images or videos, Chen would send them to the victim herself to show that he had access to her account; post them on her social media profile so they were publicly available; send sexually demeaning or violent messages; and extort her to send additional explicit images — for example, by saying he would remove the images from the internet only if she sent more . For more than 50 young women, he sent them their own sexually explicit images .

The scale disclosed in the plea is the case’s defining fact: hundreds of thousands of explicit images and videos covering more than six thousand young women, obtained through compromised accounts or by other unauthorized means . Chen’s legal exposure does not end with the New York plea: in addition to the Western District of New York charges, he is charged with attempted production of child pornography in the Central District of California, and those charges remain pending .

The plea resulted from an FBI investigation under Special Agent-in-Charge Allen D. Davis, II .

Public Reaction and Consequences

Chen’s guilty plea converts a two-year campaign of account takeovers into federal convictions for cyberstalking and aggravated identity theft, with the six-thousand-victim figure now part of the public court record . The pending California charge — attempted production of child pornography — means the seven-year maximum on the New York counts is a floor, not a ceiling, on his total exposure . The release contains no statement from Chen or his defense, and none from any of the women whose accounts he compromised .

Current Status

Chen, 31, awaits sentencing before Judge Sinatra on the cyberstalking and aggravated identity theft counts, with a pending attempted production of child pornography charge in the Central District of California still to be resolved . The release does not state whether the sentencings will be consolidated, whether Chen remains in custody, or what restitution or assessment obligations will attach for the identified victims . His guilty plea admits the account compromises; the child pornography charge remains an accusation he has not answered in court .

Impact on Their Career/Life

At 31, Chen’s name is now attached to one of the larger account-compromise cases prosecuted in Western New York: thousands of victims, hundreds of thousands of images, and an extortion method he admitted count by count. A felony conviction record for cyberstalking and identity theft forecloses any work touching computer systems or privileged data, and the pending California charge keeps his exposure open. For the more than 6,000 young women in his collection, the plea is the first official acknowledgment of the scale — and the sentencing hearing will set the consequence.

Sources

• U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of New York, “California man pleads guilty to cyberstalking, including three victims in the Western District of New York,” October 23, 2026 — source