Celebrity hacker who targeted Scarlett Johannsson, Christina Aguilera 'sorry' for crimes - PerthNow

ARREST: Scarlett Johansson was one of several Hollywood targets of hacker Christopher Chaney, who has been arrested in Florida. Source: Supplied

A FLORIDA man accused of infiltrating the email accounts of celebrities, including US actress Scarlett Johansson, has apologised, saying he plans to plead guilty to all charges.

Christopher Chaney, 35, faces up to 121 years in jail after being arrested in Florida on Wednesday, following an 11-month probe into the hacking of more than 50 victims, including US actresses Christina Aguilera and Mila Kunis.

"I wasn't saving the emails to blackmail someone,'' Chaney, who faces 26 indictments, including accessing and damaging computers, wire tapping and identify theft, told local TV station Action News in Jacksonville, Florida on Thursday.

"It started as curiosity and it turned to just being addictive,'' he added, saying his interest was ``seeing the behind-the-scenes of what's going on with the people you see on the big screen.''

Chaney explained how he electronically hijacked the forwarding feature on the email accounts of Johansson and others, so that when they received a message, so did he.

But he insisted he did not sell any of the information or pictures he obtained.

"I don't know how my email got a hold of, someone contacted me wanting the pictures,'' he said. ``I don't even know who it was. No, I didn't give that person any pictures. I never wanted to sell or release any images.''

Chaney, who is due to appear in court in Florida on Friday although he is expected to be tried in Los Angeles, said he plans on pleading guilty to all the charges against him.

"I deeply apologise ... I know what I did was probably the worst invasion of privacy someone could experience. I'm not trying to escape what I did. It was wrong. And I have to just face that and go forward.''

Aguilera's computer was hacked last December, when racy photos of her also hit the internet. Kunis's mobile phone was hacked in September with photos of her including one in a bathtub spread online.

The hacked pictures of Johansson appeared in mid-September and showed her in a state of undress in a home setting.

Chaney's parents were present at the Action News interview. His mother told the broadcaster: "He's a good kid, he just made a big mistake. He just had too much time on his hand. He's too smart for his own good.''