Ex-Marine from Torrance pleads guilty to cyberstalking, extorting explicit images

A former Marine from Torrance has pleaded guilty to federal cyberstalking charges after extorting nude and sexually explicit photos and videos from victims.

Johao Miguel Chavarri, 25, pleaded guilty Friday to three counts of cyberstalking and faces up to 15 years in prison, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a release.

Between 2019 and 2021, when he was on active duty with the Marine Corps, Chavarri reportedly contacted several victims on social media and offered to pay for photos or videos.

Some agreed and sent Chavarri sexually explicit images. Victims who either denied Chavarri outright or refused to send additional photos or videos were harassed and threatened through social media accounts.

“In most cases, he threatened to publish sexual photos and videos of the victims online or on well-known pornography websites or to distribute the sexual photos or videos to the victims’ boyfriends, friends, families or employers,” the U.S. attorney’s office said. Chavarri would mention victims’ friends and family members by name and said he would “ruin their lives.”

Chavarri is due to be sentenced Sept. 15.

The case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.