A Georgia woman was sentenced today to 20 months in prison and three years of supervised release for cyberstalking, transmitting threats to kidnap or injure in interstate commerce and identity theft.
“Gabryele Watson, an adult woman, stole a pregnant teenager’s identity and cruelly led on couples seeking to adopt a baby, only to later emotionally abuse them, including threatening to terminate the pregnancy and mocking adoptive mothers for not being able to conceive,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “She preyed on would-be parents desperately seeking to adopt a child to add to their family. Her sentence today accounts for the real-world devastation her unrelenting online harassment caused her victims.”
“This defendant, for her own selfish and evil reasons, preyed on the hopes and dreams of a young couple who simply wanted to be parents,” said U.S. Attorney Braden Boucek for the Middle District of Tennessee. “This kind of fraud is devastating to those it affects, it cannot be tolerated, and today’s punishment shows that we will hold those who commit it accountable for their actions.”
“Gabryele Watson’s deliberate actions instilled fear in caring people who longed to adopt a child,” said Special Agent in Charge Terence G. Reilly of the FBI Nashville Field Office. “Cyberstalking not only causes panic and anxiety but also leaves victims feeling constantly unsafe and vulnerable. The FBI prioritizes cases involving threats of violence and will always investigate and bring to justice those who use digital platforms to threaten others.”
According to court documents, from May to June 2023, Gabryele Watson, 30, of Athens, Georgia, cyberstalked a married couple living in the Middle District of Tennessee who had been trying to adopt a baby for eight years. To do so, she assumed the identity of a teenager in Pennsylvania who was pregnant (Minor Victim 1), obtaining accurate details about Minor Victim 1 and her pregnancy from Minor Victim 1’s social media posts. Over the next several months, as Minor Victim 1 posted new content on her social media accounts, Watson copied that new content for continued use in her scheme.
Posing as Minor Victim 1, Watson contacted the couple online, initially through her social media adoption page and then later using text spoofing services and other tools and techniques to hide her true identity. In their early conversations, the defendant claimed that she was a teenager facing an unplanned pregnancy and wanted to give her baby up for adoption. She shared detailed information about Minor Victim 1’s life and elicited similar personal information from the couple. Over time, Watson began to demand that the couple be available at all hours to respond to her frequent communications and that they purchase baby-related gear and maternity clothing. Watson also repeatedly threatened to cancel the adoption and claimed that her baby suffered from various life-threatening health emergencies. Watson further threatened to abort or injure the unborn baby, to commit suicide while pregnant, and to kill the couple.
According to court documents, Watson engaged in the same disturbing conduct with another married couple living in the Middle District of Tennessee when she pretended to be a pregnant 18-year-old living in Arkansas. This time, Watson pretended to be pregnant with high-risk twins. She also communicated on speakerphone with the couple’s two young sons and encouraged them to be excited about the adoption. She eventually threatened to kill the couple and their children.
On July 25, 2025, Watson pleaded guilty to cyberstalking, communicating threats to injure in interstate commerce, and unlawful use of a means of identification.
This case was investigated by the FBI Nashville Field Office.
The Justice Department’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Monica R. Morrison are prosecuting the case. Former Senior Trial Attorney Mona Sedky provided substantial contributions to the prosecution.
CCIPS investigates and prosecutes cybercrime and intellectual property (IP) crime in coordination with domestic and international law enforcement agencies, often with assistance from the private sector. Since 2020, CCIPS has secured the conviction of over 180 cyber and IP criminals, and court orders for the return of over $350 million in victim funds.
