A father in New York just reached a whole new level of weird. He pretended to be a 15-year old boy so he can have a cyber-relationship with his then 14-year old daughter. He demanded raunchy photos from her and threatened to blackmail her if she doesn't send more.
The Syracuse district court has charged the father with child exploitation and for distributing child pornography. District Attorney Jeffrey Carpenter told People that the man now faces a maximum of 250 years in jail.
Assistant Attorney Lisa Fletcher said the "sextortion" started in late 2013 when the father decided to make bogus online accounts and began chatting with his daughter. The conversations soon turned sexual to the point where he asked his daughter for nude pictures.
The daughter eventually felt embarrassed by what they were doing. She scolded her alleged cyber boyfriend for always talking about sex. She told him that's not what a relationship is all about. However, he continued to harass her and even threatened to show the raunchy photos to her parents if she didn't send him more.
The coercion ended a month later when the daughter received a text message from what appeared to be they boy's mother informing her that her son had committed suicide. Authorities believe the father began sexually abusing his daughter shortly after their cyber relationship ended. The abuse lasted for a year until the girl revealed to a school employee about what her father had done.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has warned teenagers to not engage in such risky activities. Child Exploitation Task Force agent Jeremy Bell told Buffalo News that smartphones have become as lethal as guns.
"We call it 'sextortion,' and the criminals who engage in it are opportunistic. They are cunning. They engage in role playing," said Bell. "There's a grooming process. They target. They groom. They get the photos and then they blackmail."
