FBI asks for help finding hundreds of "sextortion" victims
July 8, 2015
The FBI called on the public Tuesday to help them identify 240 victims of a Florida criminal convicted of extorting pornographic images from teenage girls across the US, Canada, and the UK by threatening them online.
Lucas Michael Chandler was sentenced to 105 years in prison last November after he pleaded guilty to nine counts of producing child pornography. Chandler, 31, posed as a 15-year-old boy and targeted around 350 girls in his "sextortion" scheme.
Between 2007 and 2010 the pharmaceutical student would pretend to be a friend, acquaintance or admirer and then entice girls to send him explicit photos of themselves. Once they had done so, he would threaten them with exposure, either online or directly to their parents, if they did not provide him with more graphic images.
Chandler was caught by the FBI after the parents of one of the girls came forward. After his arrest, Chandler told the authorities he targeted girls between 13 and 18 because older women were "too smart" to fall for his trick.
Only 109 of his victims have been identified. In hopes of finding the remaining girls, the FBI has released Chandler's old screen names, which included CaptainObvious, sk8er4life2021 and VictorHugo.
Authorities seek remaining victims
FBI Special Agent Larry Meyer said "it's important that we find these girls so that they don't have to be looking over their shoulder, wondering if this guy is still out there and is he looking for them and is he going to be coming back."
Meyer also highlighted the importance of bringing public attention to the increasingly common online phenomenon of "sextortion," as victims may be too embarrassed to come forward: "Some of these girls, now young women, need assistance. Many probably have never told anyone what they went through."
The FBI said analysis of Chandler's computer yielded hundreds of folders, each bearing the name and personal information a victim, containing chat logs, images, and videos. Some of these files show the girls crying and pleading with Chandler not to expose them.
Some 80,000 images were found in his possession.
es/jil (AP, Reuters)