Digital Forensics Dispatch

Former Film Industry Lawyer Sentenced to One Year for Blackmail and Sexual Coercion

January 11, 2022

Paul Duggan of The Washington Post reports that Steven Fabrizio, former general counsel for the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), has been sentenced to one year in jail. Fabrizio met a woman identified as A.W. through an online service called SeekingArrangement in August of 2019. At that time, Fabrizio was the senior executive vice president and general counsel for the MPAA.

After their first encounter, the woman declined to continue the relationship after Fabrizio gave her $400. “Fabrizio repeatedly threatened to expose her secret moonlighting to her employer, her co-workers, her parents and her landlord” Duggan writes.

Police involved in the case were able to obtain information including text messages and messages sent via the SeekingArrangement platform. One of the messages sent from Fabrizio to A.W. “Don’t be like that. I know where you live. I know where you work. Don’t think [her employer] would be happy to know that it’s young [professionals] are having sexual for money / Same for you landlord / Once more tomorrow morning… I’ll never bother you again” quotes Duggan from court documents obtained by The Washington Post.

According to authorities Fabrizio also mentioned the name of the victim’s parents as well as the town where she had grown up. Fabrizio continued to harass A.W. with more text messages demanding sex and with more threats to expose her.

Fabrizio was arrested on August 23, 2019, after A.W. filed a complaint for continued harassment with the D.C. police. He pled guilty in the summer of 2021 to one count of blackmail and third-degree sex abuse.

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