Council candidate angered by false porn pictures on web
Two weeks after a candidate for the Revere City Council was the subject of anti-Semitic postings on a political website, a second candidate in the race has stepped forth with allegations that his face and another city councilor’s were edited onto images that displayed graphic pornography on an independent website.
The photos, which displayed computer-edited photos of the faces of candidate Richard Penta and City Councilor Dan Rizzo, were attached to images of nude men engaging in sex, and posted by an anonymous source in March on the www.revere.com website, according to Penta. Penta is part of a four-person contest that includes Michael Carter, Kenneth Orne, and Corey Abrams. The special election will be held on May 11 to fill the slot of former councilor James Kimmerle, who died in February.
Penta said he did not disclose the incident until after he heard about the cyber attack targeting Abrams.
Last month, Abrams told the Globe that he had been contacted by a person in March who threatened to post pornography on a political website that Abrams did not create, www.coreyabrams.com. According to Abrams, the person wanted him to pay for the site and after Abrams refused, the pornographic images were posted. Two weeks ago, an edited photo of Abrams wearing a Star of David was posted on the site. That material is no longer there.
Abrams could not be reached for comment about the latest cyber attack, but Penta pledged to identify the person who posted the information. “I’ll dedicate the rest of my life to find out who it is who did this,’’ said Penta, a former 10-year councilor who is running for his old seat.
The website www.revere.com allows anonymous comments but does list a person’s Internet Protocol address, or IP number, which identifies the computer network where the comments originate. The website is registered to Hamel Consulting Group in Boston. Several phone calls to the organization were not returned.
Harry Pierre, a spokesman for Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office, said he could not confirm or deny that the state was investigating the attacks.
The cyber attacks on council candidates are the latest incidents to help define the rough-and-tumble political landscape in the city. In 2008, City Councilor Ira Novoselsky was punched in the face and brought to a hospital after being attacked by a Revere man who objected when Novoselsky tried to document a complaint about garbage with his camera. In 2007, then-City Council candidate Victoria Laws alleged that her car was vandalized on numerous occasions and that her Social Security number was posted on MySpace.
“Revere politics is somewhat of a blood sport,’’ noted City Council president Anthony Zambuto. “But this latest thing is as low as it gets.’’
Councilor at Large Dan Rizzo, whose image was grouped with Penta’s on the pornographic page, called the posting “coward politics,’’ and said he suspects it was done by a person who stood to benefit from the campaign.
“It would be shocking for somebody who works a 9-to-5 job who has nothing do with politics to come home and slander someone and put up pornography. It’s not something a person does who doesn’t have a vested interest in hurting one of these people,’’ said Rizzo.
On Broadway, across from City Hall, residents were not surprised that cyber attacks had become part of the latest political race. “That’s politics. That’s what they all do, everybody slanders,’’ said Tony Meriano. “It’s like an attack ad on the radio. Nobody likes it, but it’s part of what they do.’’
Fred Alexander believes the Ward 1 race is a microcosm of the rest of American politics. “I think the whole country is divisive right now and I think what’s happening here is reflective of that,’’ he said.
At the State House, several legislators pushed last week to create a bill that would make it illegal for a person to register a website domain name that could be confused with an incumbent or a candidate for office.
The bill is sponsored by Worcester Democratic Representative John J. Binienda, whose name was once used on a domain without his permission. Revere Democratic Representative Kathi-Anne Reinstein is one of the cosponsors.
“I strongly believe that it should be illegal in Massachusetts to register a domain name containing my, or any other politician or aspiring politician’s name for the sole purpose of monetary gain,’’ Binienda said in a statement. “That is not the free market at work; that is political extortion.’’
Steven Rosenberg can be reached at srosenberg@globe.com. 
