Former college track coach accused of tricking athletes into sending nude photos

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A former track and field coach who worked at several universities is accused of tricking female student-athletes into sending him nude photos and cyberstalking at least one student-athlete.

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Steve Waithe, 28, of Chicago, was charged by criminal complaint with one count of cyberstalking and one count of wire fraud.

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Waithe contacted the alleged victims through social media accounts, said he had found compromising photos of them online and offered to “help” get the photos removed from the internet. He allegedly asked for additional nude or semi-nude photos that he could purportedly use for “reverse image searches.”

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Under the premise of an “athlete research” or “body development” study, it is alleged that Waithe emailed prospective victims using the personas of “Katie Janovich” and/or “Kathryn Svoboda.”

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The emails described a phony study for athletes and requested information relating to height, weight and diet habits, officials allege. The emails also included a request for the victims to send photos of themselves in a “uniform or bathing suit to show as much skin as possible” and suggested that the photos would not be shared or saved, officials allege.

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The emails often included attachments of sample nude and semi-nude images of “Katie” to illustrate the types of photos that victims should send. According to court documents, investigators have identified more than 10 victims of the “body development study” scheme and over 300 related nude and semi-nude images of victims of the scheme in Waithe’s email accounts.

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