Federal charges in South Bend 'sextortion' case

11-11-2011 Indiana:

A 38-year-old South Bend man was indicted this week by a federal grand jury in a "sextortion" case that began in Ohio.

____ faces two counts of enticement for the production of child pornography, one count of extortion using interstate communication and one count of accessing child pornography with the intent to view.

Federal prosecutors allege that ___, posing as a 17-year-old boy on the Internet, asked a minor girl in Galion, Ohio, to send him nude pictures of herself. The girl complied, and then he allegedly asked for more via text message, threatening to publish the photos she already sent if she did not respond, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

When Ohio authorities traced the cell phone number to ____, they contacted the St. Joseph County Police Department. Police executed a search warrant at his home and later found numerous images that constituted child pornography on the computer involving minor females, according to federal prosecutors. They also said they found a number of other potential minor and adult victims of ___.

___ was taken into custody last week. ..Source.. by Staff Report