Affidavit: Suspect in Waltham school threats harassed roommate for year

WALTHAM, Mass. — The 24-year-old arrested in connection with a series of bomb threats across Waltham cyberstalked his former roommate for more than one year, an affidavit alleges.

Police in Waltham have been working for months to figure out who has been making the bomb threats.

Officials say a man who was allegedly involved in an extensive cyberstalking campaign against his former roommate is responsible for the threats. On Friday, investigators said they have arrested 24-year-old Ryan Lin of Newton. He is charged with cyberstalking and will appear in court today.

>> Arrest made in connection with Waltham bomb threats

Investigators say Lin hacked into her accounts and devices and allegedly stole private photographs, personal information, diary entries and information about her medical, psychological and sexual history.

Investigators say it all began in 2016.

The victim and Lin became roommates in the spring of 2016 when Lin answered a Craigslist ad to move into a Watertown apartment, where the victim already lived with two others, one of whom spoke with Boston 25 News Friday.

“He was looking for an apartment and we had put an ad up on Craigslist - he seemed alright by me - he met the other roommates and we moved him in," Kyle Crusius.

According to an affidavit, the victim kept her laptop in her bedroom and on her laptop, she had a document with passwords to all of her online accounts, as well as personal information. Soon after moving in, the victim said Lin started acting very strange toward her. He even texted her referencing personal information about her medical past that she had written about in an electronic journal.

The victim said that her prescription medications for her anxiety and depression went missing. She called a plumber when the toilet began to overflow and he found one of her missing plastic prescription bottles. She said Lin denied that he was involved.

“He began asking what her work schedule was, things like that,” Crusius said. “Then it became and every night kind of thing - like ‘oh when does she come home what time do she go to work.’”

Soon after that, the victim moved out of the apartment. When she came back to get the rest of her belongings, she said her electronic journal had been printed and copies were all around her bedroom. Again, Lin denied involvement.

“It was all pathological warfare," Crusius said. “We would hear her yelling at him to leave her alone.”

The roommates complained to the landlord about Lin and tried to get him kicked out. They even contacted police who gave Lin several warnings about his harassing behavior. In August, Lin was forced out of the apartment.

Days before Lin was kicked out, the affidavit states the victim's online journal, as well as a collage of photos including "sexually explicit photos" of the victim were sent out to the victim, her former roommates and a few other people. Investigators say Lin even sent the journal passages and photos to her family, co-workers, boss and schools she attended.

Court documents show Lin created fake online profiles in the victim's name soliciting rape fantasies, including "gang bang" and other sexual activities. Random men then started showing up at the victim's home.

"Those who think they can use the Internet to terrorize people and hide behind the anonymity of the net and outwit law enforcement should think again," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

Lin continued trying to contact the victim, continuously sending her "friend requests" on Facebook, as well as her family members. Investigators say he even made four different Instagram profiles to try and connect with her. Most of the accounts Lin made were linked back to his email addresses.

In July 2017, officials say the Waltham Police Department received an anonymous tip there was a bomb at the victim's Waltham home. Later that day, they received a tip about "drug activity" at the same home. Two days later, police got another tip of a bomb in the town. All were determined to be a hoax.

>> Emails threaten Waltham and Belmont schools

From July to October 2017, bomb threats were continuously made against public and private schools, as well as daycare centers and other locations across the city.

"As alleged, Mr. Lin orchestrated an extensive, multi-faceted campaign of computer hacking and online harassment that caused a huge amount of angst, alarm, and unnecessary expenditure of limited law enforcement resources," said Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division.

Investigators who spoke with people who went to high school with Lin in Connecticut said he had also created fake Facebook profiles for classmates and used them to released their personal information and impersonate them. Two people who went to college with Lin also told investigators they and others had repeatedly been harassed by Lin in college.

As a result of the cyberstalking, officials say the victim moved out of state.

Officials say Lin graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a degree in computer science. He worked at a software company in Waltham until he was fired. When investigators went to the company and searched the computer Lin used to work on, they found dozens of internet searches referencing bomb threats in and around Waltham and personal information used in the cyberstalking against the victim.

Lin appeared in court Friday and faces a maximum five years in prison. His attorney would not answer questions about a possible motive.

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