NJ cyberbully forwarded lewd photos, gets 45 days

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A New Jersey man who used a teen’s lewd online photos to cyberbully him is going to prison for 45 days.

Prosecutors say 20-year-old Bergenfield resident Matthew Bean joined an “electronic mob” that tried to drive the victim to suicide.

U.S. District Judge Anita Brody calls the crime “extremely malicious.” She says she hopes it teaches the victim and other teens “the stupidity of sexting.”

The teen had posted the sexually explicit photos of himself when he was 12 or 13. The FBI says they surfaced on a website five years later.

Bean admits he forwarded the photos to the teen’s Philadelphia-area school. The victim didn’t commit suicide and is now in college.

Bean also will serve five years of probation after pleading guilty to a federal stalking charge.