Juan R. McCullum1, 35, of Washington, D.C., was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of cyberstalking, and a co-worker, Dorene Browne-Louis, 45, of Upper Marlboro, Md., was indicted on two counts of obstruction of justice. The indictment, which was unsealed today, was returned on July 11, 2017, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
According to the indictment, McCullum worked from April 2015 until June 2016 in the House member’s legislative office in Washington, D.C. Browne-Louis worked in the same office from January 2015 until April 2016.
The indictment alleges that, during the course of his employment, McCullum offered in March 2016 to assist the House member in repairing the member’s malfunctioning, password-protected cellular iPhone by taking the device to a local Apple store. According to the indictment, the House member provided McCullum with the device solely to have the iPhone repaired. McCullum was not given permission to take, copy, or distribute any of the contents of the iPhone. The iPhone contained the private, nude images and videos.
As alleged in the indictment, in July 2016, after McCullum left the House member’s staff, he engaged in a course of conduct that included creating a Hotmail account and a Facebook social media account, using a fictitious name, to distribute and post the private images and videos. Further, according to the indictment, he encouraged others on social media to redistribute the images and videos in the member’s congressional district. The indictment alleges that McCullum also sent text messages to Browne-Louis alerting her to his activities as early as July 2, 2016, as well as e-mail messages containing several of the images and videos.
NBC Washington reported: McCullum appeared on the VH1 TV show “I Love New York” and in 2015 was named the No. 5 Most Beautiful person on Capitol Hill by “The Hill.” According to that report, McCullum worked for Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands).
On July 6, 2016, federal law enforcement initiated a criminal investigation into the unauthorized distribution and publication of the images and videos. The charges against Browne-Louis involve text messages from McCullum that she allegedly deleted from her cellular phone, as well as false, incomplete, and misleading statements that she allegedly made to law enforcement and a federal grand jury regarding her knowledge of the activities.
Browne-Louis made her first appearance today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. She pled not guilty to the charges and was released on personal recognizance pending a status hearing scheduled for July 19, 2017. McCullum’s first court appearance has not yet been scheduled.
The charge of cyberstalking carries a statutory maximum of five years in prison and potential financial penalties. The charge of obstruction of justice carries a statutory maximum of 20 years of incarceration and potential financial penalties.