FBI says coach hacked students' intimate images. That's sexual assault. | Opinion
Cyber sexual assault is about nonconsensual access to the most intimate parts of someone's life. And unlike traditional sexual violence, it doesn't require physical contact.
We’ve spent our careers representing survivors of sexual violence − young women and men who were failed by institutions that promised to protect them. But our latest case is different.
It doesn’t involve a hidden exam room or an abusive coach. It involves stolen passwords, hacked cloud accounts and the exploitation of private images from afar. Yet the violation is just as personal. Just as devastating. Just as real.
This is what cyber sexual assault looks like.
In recent weeks, we’ve worked with student-athletes from across the country − many of them young women − whose private data was illegally accessed. Federal prosecutors say former University of Michigan football coach Matt Weiss hacked into multiple personal email accounts without permission.
Many of these accounts belonged to student-athletes. Some contained sensitive or compromising photos and videos. Some of our clients found out they had been affected only when they received a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice.
For these athletes, the trauma is overwhelming − and for some, not unfamiliar. One of our clients is a survivor of Dr. Larry Nassar’s abuse.
All of them made profound sacrifices to pursue college athletics. And all of them were let down again by the schools they represented.
Sexual violence in digital form is devastating. Colleges need to act – now.
We need to start calling this what it is: a digital form of sexual violence.
Cyber sexual assault is about nonconsensual access to the most intimate parts of someone’s life. And unlike traditional sexual violence, it doesn’t require physical contact. The violation happens through a screen, but the consequences are no less traumatic.
Unfortunately, higher education institutions have been slow to recognize this threat. Most have robust policies in place for physical assault. Few have developed protocols for how to respond to digital violations of student privacy − let alone cyber sexual abuse.
In this case, universities’ failure to vet and monitor third-party vendors enabled a massive breach that spanned multiple institutions. And even after being made aware of the threat, many schools failed to notify students. Some of our clients learned they were victims not from their schools but from court filings or news reports.
That is unconscionable.
Sextortion is on the rise. Universities must strengthen cybersecurity.
It’s time for schools to treat cybersecurity the way they treat campus security: as a matter of student safety. Because when student-athletes are targeted in this way − when their private images are accessed and potentially shared without consent − it is no less a violation than physical assault.
The Weiss case is part of a disturbing trend. In 2024, the FBI reported a sharp increase in sextortion and image-based abuse targeting minors and college-age students. As technology evolves, so does the reach of abusers. But our systems and our institutions are failing to keep up.
Our clients aren’t just demanding accountability for what happened in this case. They’re calling for a broader reckoning with how we define and respond to sexual violence in the digital age.
That starts with treating cyber sexual assault with the seriousness it deserves. It means universities must notify victims promptly, cooperate with investigations fully and implement the same trauma-informed protocols for digital violations that they would for physical ones. It also means recognizing that when data is breached, lives are breached − and survivors deserve support, not silence.
We owe it to these student-athletes to meet the moment. And we owe it to future generations to build institutions worthy of their trust.
Megan Bonanni and Lisa Esser-Weidenfeller are plaintiffs attorneys who have represented hundreds of survivors in some of the largest sexual assault cases in the country, serving in key roles in the Larry Nassar/USA Gymnastics and Robert Anderson/University of Michigan lawsuits.