× Expand Bill Oxford on Unsplash Sexual Extortion

The Halton Regional Police Service has laid multiple charges after a lengthy sexual extortion investigation by the Oakville Criminal Investigations Bureau.

In late December 2019, a female victim was contacted over social media by an anonymous suspect who threatened to post graphic images of the victim if she did not provide sexually explicit images of herself. The victim did not comply with demands and the suspect then posted the graphic images online.

The victim was contacted by the suspect again in March 2020 and the same suspect made another demand for sexually explicit images. Again, the victim did not comply with demands.

After an extensive investigation, a suspect was identified and arrested by police. A 22 year-old male from Hamilton was arrested and charged with the following:

Criminal Harassment

Extortion

Publication of Intimate Images without Consent

Distribution of Child Pornography

Possession of Child Pornography

Utter threats

The accused was arrested on March 5, and held for a bail hearing. To protect the identity of the victim, police will not be identifying the accused.

Police would like to take this opportunity to advise any residents who may be faced with similar sexual extortion threats to contact police immediately.

Tips can also be submitted anonymously to Crime Stoppers. "See something? Hear something? Know something? Contact Crime Stoppers" at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or through the web at www.haltoncrimestoppers.ca.

To protect the privacy of the victim, no further details will be provided regarding this investigation.