"Revenge porn" website creator Hunter Moore to change plea

LOS ANGELES -- The operator of a "revenge porn" website who posted stolen nude photos online has agreed to plead guilty to hacking and identity theft, according to court papers filed Wednesday in Los Angeles federal court.

Hunter Moore, 28, of Woodland, California, faces a sentence of two to seven years in federal prison under the agreement, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office.

Moore was dubbed the "most hated man on the Internet" for posting explicit photos and information about the people portrayed in them on his now-defunct site, IsAnyoneUp.com.

The term "revenge porn" was coined because many of the images were posted by jilted lovers to get even with former partners. Several states have passed laws to make such websites illegal.

Prosecutors said Moore also sought out racy content himself, enlisting a hacker to dig up nude photos from email accounts.

Photos posted between 2010 and 2012 included an "American Idol" finalist, the daughter of a major Republican donor and a woman in a wheelchair, according to a 2012 article in Rolling Stone magazine.

Moore acknowledged in the plea agreement that he paid Charles Evens to hack email accounts and steal photos.

Evens, 26, of Los Angeles, pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for trial next month. He refused to comment when contacted Wednesday.

An indictment listed 54 "overt acts" in 2011 and 2012, including emails between Moore and Evens discussing "how to hack e-mails," how to set up a PayPal account "to avoid detection of their scheme and connection to each other," and direct requests for photographs, including an email sent "on or about Feb. 12, 2012" where Moore requested "nude pictures of '7 girls and 3 dudes.'"

Danielle Citron, a professor of law at the University of Maryland and author of the book "Hate Crimes in Cyberspace," told CBS News' Crimesider that authorities had been investigating Moore for a long time.

"He had always been like, 'I can get away with anything,'" Citron said after Moore's January 2014 arrest.

Moore is due in court Feb. 25, although Mrozek said sentencing could be postponed until March.

Moore's lawyer did not immediately return a call for comment.