Is ‘Caught in His Web’ a true tale? Read in regards to the real-life case that most probably inspired the Lifetime movie about a mysterious cyberbully.
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Promos for the new movie — which airs tonight, Saturday, Feb. 19, at 8 p.m. ET — say it’s “ripped from the headlines.” And though the network doesn’t specify the real-life foundation for the tale, the movie’s plot bears hanging resemblances to a up to date “sextortion” case…
The movie tells the horrifying story of a cyberbully harassing ladies for nude photos, Lifetime says.
In the movie, Emma (Alison Thornton), Olivia (Malia Baker), and Gabby (Emma Tremblay) take care of a cyberbully who calls himself Blake. After hacking into their cell phones and computer systems, Blake coerces the girls into sending him nude photos, harasses them relentless, and “tracks their every move,” as Lifetime’s synopsis says.
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“Feeling extremely by myself and experiencing anxiety, melancholy and fear, the girls later discover they aren't on my own in being tormented,” the network adds. “They decide to sign up for forces and enlist the help of Detective Holland (Garcelle Beauvais), in the hunt to unmask their harasser and finish their nightmare.”
The movie was written via Danielle Iman, some of the writers of the Apple TV+ display Swagger, and it used to be directed via Star Trek: Discovery alum Hannah Chessman. Actress and The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg, meanwhile, serves as an executive producer.
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The ‘Caught in His Web’ tale is similar to the story of Ryan J. Vallee.
That cyberbullying story would possibly sound familiar to New Hampshire residents. In February 2017, a New Hampshire man named Ryan J. Vallee was once sentenced to ninety six months in jail after “hacking into the net accounts of dozens of teenaged female victims and sending them threatening on-line communications, in some circumstances containing sexually specific footage, as a way to pressure the sufferers to send him sexually particular footage of themselves,” in line with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Hampshire.
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In its press release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office added that Vallee engaged in a computer hacking and “sextortion” scheme between 2011 and 2016. In that scheme, he took over sufferers’ email, Facebook, and Instagram accounts, sent them threatening message, and demanded that they ship sexually explicit conduct.
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Then in August 2016 — amid an investigation via the U.S. Secret Service and the police division of Belmont, N.H. — Vallee pleaded to blame to a 31-count superseding indictment. That indictment charged him with 13 counts of constructing interstate threats, one rely of laptop hacking to scouse borrow knowledge, 8 counts of computer hacking to extort, eight counts of annoyed id theft, and one count of cyberstalking, in step with the scoop free up.
Prosecutors on the case stated they were glad with Vallee’s eight-year sentence. “It should send a message to other people out there that you can’t do this,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Arnie Huftalen said on the time, per WMUR. “This is genuine crime. It really hurts folks, and it creates injuries that may ultimate for a lifetime.”
Caught in His Web airs tonight, Saturday, Feb. 19, at 8 p.m. ET on Lifetime.
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