The FBI in Minneapolis announced Wednesday details of an online sextortion case involving more than 500 young girls from all across the country.
FBI Special Agent Brenda Born explained sextortion.
“So, sextortion is forcing a minor either by using or threatening to use sexually explicit images or videos that were previously obtained and demanding additional images or videos that are sexual in nature,” says Born.
Born said the FBI arrested a St. Paul man accused of befriending young girls online, pretending to be another young girl, and eventually asking them to send sexually explicit material. He used internet applications such as Kik, Snapchat, and Skype, to communicate with hundreds of minor girls throughout the United States and elsewhere.
The man that was arrested used 75 different accounts to communicate with young girls. The FBI says there could be as many as 1,000 victims in Brooklyn Center alone.
Anyone who believes they may have been a victim or who has information about this matter is encouraged to reach out to the FBI or the Department of Justice.
The case was part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
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