Plymouth man sentenced after cyberstalking over a dozen Mass. women for years

A Plymouth man was sentenced to prison last week for cyberstalking more than a dozen Massachusetts women over a 16-year period.

James Florence Jr., 37, was sentenced to nine years in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release, according to the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office. In April, he had pleaded guilty to seven counts of cyberstalking and one count of possession of child pornography.

From 2008 to 2024, Florence targeted and tormented women he knew personally — two of whom were minors when he started, according to authorities. He was arrested in September 2024 and has been in custody since.

“Among other things, the defendant hacked into victims’ personal accounts and used over 60 accounts across nearly 30 platforms to relentlessly impersonate, intimidate, and abuse them — sharing thousands of fake sexually explicit images of the victims along with their personal information and urging others to contact, shame, and sextort them,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a release.

Florence also monitored the victims’ accounts to obtain further private information and attempted to sell one victim’s doctored images online. 

“This was not internet trolling. It was psychological torture — sustained, targeted, and deeply personal,” U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said in a statement. “For 16 years, this defendant tormented more than a dozen women who considered him a friend, a loved one, or an ally and, at the stroke of a key, inflicted lasting harm that changed the way many of these women move through the world. And he did it all while hiding, cowardly, behind a keyboard.”

Officials searched Florence’s property in September 2024 following his arrest, and he was reportedly in possession of dozens of pairs of underwear and socks stolen from his victims, 11 digital wallpapers of the victims, and a custom phone case displaying an image of a victim.

Police also found one photo of a victim from when she was a minor and 66 pieces of child sexual abuse material — 62 images and four videos — of female minors approximately ages 8 to 15 years old.

Previously an IT worker, Florence, who worked at MIT Lincoln Laboratory for a decade and had a Department of Defense “Secret” clearance, reportedly used his advanced knowledge of cybersecurity to evade law enforcement — utilizing VPNs, anonymous revenge porn websites overseas, and encrypted foreign email providers outside of the U.S. legal process and without identifying records. 

“James Florence Jr. is a serial cyber stalker who led a double life, weaponizing modern technology to debase, destroy, and traumatize more than a dozen women, many of whom were family and close friends, for over a decade,” Ted Docks, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston Division, said in a statement. “What he did was sickening, demented, and cruel, and he’ll now pay for it with his freedom.”

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