FL man charged with ‘sextortion’ of Clinton County teen

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A Florida man was charged within the federal court docket in Grand Rapids Wednesday with “sextortion” of a Michigan minor, in accordance with federal attorneys.

Brandon Le, 21, of Maitland, Florida, north of Orlando, was indicted on Nov. 16 and appeared Wednesday in federal court docket in Grand Rapids.

He was charged with coercing a minor to interact in sexual exercise, producing little one pornography and receiving little one pornography.

Attorneys allege that on Aug. 10 and Aug. 11 of 2019, Le used Snapchat to contact a 13-year-old lady in Clinton County, north of Lansing. He began speaking to her after which steered dialog to sexual content material. He then screenshotted the messages, threatening to publicly put up the screenshots on-line until she despatched him sexual pictures, in accordance with attorneys.

Based on FBI investigation, attorneys stated they imagine Le could have contacted folks throughout the nation on Snapchat and different on-line platforms making an attempt to do the identical sorts of issues.

Attorneys stated they’ve contacted some individuals who could have been affected however are additionally asking the general public for assist. They imagine Le glided by a number of totally different usernames: “Ty Addison,” “Addityyt,” “Tyaddinude,” “Tyaddibaby” and “Tygrazittenudef.”

If you assume you’ll have been a sufferer, attorneys ask you attain out to Kathy Schuette on the U.S. Attorney’s Office at 616.808.2034 or by emailing Kathy.schuette@usdoj.gov.

“Unfortunately, sextortion cases are on the rise in Michigan, significantly,” stated Jim Tarasca particular agent in cost of the FBI in Michigan.

“The rapid rise of sextortion across Michigan, across the United States is, of course, a very deeply disturbing trend,” stated U.S. Attorney Mark Totten. “Anyone can be a victim but this crime especially targets some of the most vulnerable members of our society — teenagers and children.”

The FBI encourages anybody who has been victimized on-line to inform somebody. To report the harassment to authorities, attain out to the FBI at 1.800.CALL.FBI or report the crime on-line at tips.fbi.gov.