Easton Sex Facebook Page Creator To Be Charged

EASTON, PA -- A 19-year-old Newark, NJ man is accused of creating a now-defunct Facebook page claiming to chronicle the sexual exploits of young women from the city.

Peter Murphy told Easton police he set up the page out of "spite and revenge," according to an arrest warrant.

He will be charged with two counts of harassment and is due to be arraigned Friday in Easton's downtown district court.

The case began in March, when a woman from Easton contacted police about the page, concerned that it was a form of cyber-bullying and could cause the young women featured to harm themselves.

"Exposing Easton" was up for just a few days, but gathered 1,500 fans before Facebook took it down for violating its rules. It caught the attention of police and Easton Area School District officials, since some of the young women featured were apparently Easton students.

Det. Christopher Miller was able to trace the IP address that set up the page to an account owned by Murphy's mother, court records say.

Murphy, who was already in Northampton County Prison on charges stemming from a South Side burglary case, admitted to setting up the page out of "spite and revenge," police said.

This isn't the first time illicit photos of local students have gotten the attention of law enforcement.

In 2011, photos of nude Emmaus High School students wound up on a pornographic website, prompting a police investigation.