In a USA TODAY Op-Ed, Megan Bonanni Calls for Public to Correctly Refer to Matt Weiss Hacking as Cyber Sexual Assault
In a newly published USA Today op-ed, Pitt McGehee Palmer Bonanni & Rivers Partner Megan Bonanni, alongside Lisa Esser-Weidenfeller of Sommers Schwartz PC, are sounding the alarm on a growing form of sexual violence: cyber sexual assault.
Drawing on their decades of experience representing survivors of sexual abuse, Megan and Lisa warn that institutions of higher education are failing to protect students from this new wave of digital exploitation. “Cyber sexual assault is about nonconsensual access to the most intimate parts of someone’s life,” they write. “And unlike traditional sexual violence, it doesn’t require physical contact. The violation happens through a screen, but the consequences are no less traumatic.”
Megan and Lisa currently represent dozens of student-athletes whose private accounts were illegally accessed by Weiss. Many of these individuals learned they were victims only after the U.S. Department of Justice contacted them—or through news reports. As attorneys, Megan and Lisa argue that universities must treat cybersecurity as a matter of student safety and adopt trauma-informed responses to digital violations, just as they do for physical ones.
Read the full piece here: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2025/05/08/michigan-football-coach-hacking-identity-theft-abuse/83492493007/