61. From Delusions to Deepfakes: Sports Crimes - Ruth Ann Steinhagen & Raffaela Spone

Hello sports fans! This week Pink Collar is bringing you two sports related cases. Rachel discusses the case of Ruth Ann Steinhagen, a young woman in Chicago who became obsessed with Cubs player, Eddie Waitkus. After Eddie was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies, Ruth had to do something. If she couldn't have him, nobody could. She booked a room at the hotel he was staying with when the Phillies were in town and brought a knife and a gun. Listen to hear what happened next... Then Nathalie tells the story of Raffaela Spone. Raffaela was (allegedly) determined to take down her daughter's cheerleading rivals by any means possible. She was accused of sending deepfakes of the teens engaging in illegal activity to the cheer coaches. The girls also received threats from an unknown number telling them to kill themselves. The police tracked the IP address behind the data to Raffaela's home. She has been charged with three counts of cyber harassment of a child and three counts of cyber harassment. Rachel’s Sources https://victimsofcrime.org/stalking-resource-center/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Ann_Steinhagen ruth-ann-steinhagen-83-troubled-shooter-of-the-phillies-eddie-waitkus.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Waitkus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalking https://www.stalkingriskprofile.com/what-is-stalking/stalking-and-mental-illness Nathalie's Sources https://abc11.com/deepfake-videos-cheerleading-rivals-raffaela-spone-cheerleaders-mom-arrested-victory-vipers-cheer/10416588/ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9592117/Cops-accused-woman-creating-deepfake-images-never-evidence.html https://www.timesherald.com/news/chalfont-woman-charged-with-cyberbullying-teen-cheerleaders/article_f7da2667-776d-5907-a455-dcb2fa8acfaa.html https://www.phillyvoice.com/cheerleader-mom-charged-harassment-bucks-county-deep-fake-chalfont-raffaela-spone/ https://www.inquirer.com/news/bucks-county-raffaela-spone-cyberbullying-deepfake-20210312.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepfake