LOS ANGELES (KNX) — An active-duty Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton was arrested Tuesday on “sextortion” allegations made by young women with ties to his former hometown of Torrance, Calif.
Johao Miguel Chavarri, 25, was expected to make his first appearance Wednesday in a federal Los Angeles court on cyberstalking charges.
From 2019 through 2021, Chavarri is accused of using the online alias “Michael Frito” and creating numerous online accounts to repeatedly stalk, harass, and threaten women who refused to give in to send him nude, or compromising photos and videos of themselves, among other demands.
According to the criminal complaint unsealed following Chavarri’s arrest, in some cases, the threats and sextortion demands continued for more than a year.
Prosecutors said they were able to determine a pattern of threats made by Chavarri to his victims, outlined in a complaint affidavit. In some instances, Chavarri allegedly demanded victims provide him sexual photos or videos of themselves, or their feet.
In other instances, Chavarri is accused of demanding victims respond to him and communicate with him online.
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If the victims refused to comply with Chavarri’s demands, he is accused of threatening to publish sexually explicit photos and videos of them online or on well-known pornography sites, according to the complaint.
He’s also accused of threatening to send the photos and videos to the victims’ boyfriends, friends, families, or employers, whom he would often identify by name.
One message sent by Chavarri to multiple victims via Instagram said he would spend his “whole life ruining” their lives, the complaint alleged. Additionally, he’s accused of creating fake social media accounts mimicking some of the victims’ names and sending harassing messages to some of the victims’ friends and family.
If convicted on the stalking charge, Chavarri faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.
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