James Casbolt posted sexually explicit images of Haley Meijer, daughter of a US hypermarket tycoon, online and threatened her family after split

A British man who married the daughter of an American billionaire has been jailed for 12 years after plotting to extort £2m from the family by posting sexually explicit photos of her online.

James Casbolt, 37, from St Ives in Cornwall, demanded the sum in exchange for not sharing intimate pictures of Haley Meijer following an acrimonious split.

He also sent threatening texts and emails to Meijer, the daughter of the American hypermarket tycoon Hank Meijer, and posted bizarre, unfounded claims about her online.

Casbolt once wrote to her: “If my terms are not met, I can tickle the public interest for years, until the Meijers are so infamous in the world they will not be able to walk down the streets safely.”

In another he said: “If you are living with another guy, you just gave him a death sentence” and threatened to send suicide bombers to her parents’ home.

Jailing Casbolt for 12 years at Truro crown court, Judge Christopher Harvey Clark described him as an “extremely dangerous man’’. He told Casbolt he was not suffering from any mental disorder and his actions were those of a person with a “highly intelligent and criminal mind”.

He said: “Your intentions were evil. You sought to intimidate and humiliate Haley Meijer. You were not mad, but you were bad and very dangerous to know. You present a significant risk to the public.”

The court was told Meijer had sent sexually explicit images to Casbolt after telling her he was feeling lonely while serving in the US army.

Harvey Clarke said: “You asked your wife for sexually intimate images and videos. They were intended to give you pleasure and solace. She gave them to you because she loved you. You grossly abused her trust. When the relationship broke down, you used the photographs as your ammunition.

“You systematically set out to destroy her reputation. Thousands of people with gullible minds saw the photos and doubtless believed the horrible lies you wrote.”

The judge said Casbolt had distorted some of the images to make them look even worse. He described the defendant as being full of conspiracy theories and added that he felt attacked by the elite and caught up in a corrupt court system.

The court was told Casbolt had met Meijer via the internet in 2009 and was charmed by him. For a time they lived together in Cornwall and then moved to Michigan. They married in 2011. Casbolt joined the American army and was posted to Texas. It was at this time that he asked her to send explicit photos. She did after making him promise never to show them to anyone else.

They had a son together but after Casbolt became violent they divorced, the court was told.

Philip Lee, prosecuting, said: “It was then that he [Casbolt] told her that he would dedicate the rest of his life to destroying her and threatened to post the explicit photos on the internet. He said to her: ‘I will now release porn pictures of you to the world.’ He immediately followed out that threat and posted them on Facebook.”

Casbolt returned to the UK, telling his former wife that he was “inexhaustible” and warned: “I could do this for years.”

Lee said Casbolt also sent an email saying: “Your dad could be lynched in the street” and another note that said: “[£]2M. Put in my bank account. I will then stop talking about the Meijer family.” He also posed with images of himself brandishing a sword and a gun.

When police asked Casbolt why he was acting as he was, he replied: “Because I love my son and they are telling me I will never see him again. I have tried to show them it does not matter how much money they have. I just want to see my son. I don’t care how she feels. I don’t care how her parents feel.” The judge told him he probably would not now see his son again.

While on bail, Casbolt sent threatening messages to two other women, British champion surfer Tassy Swallow and hair stylist Simone Everett. Both were sent links to a fictional serial killer called Slenderman and Casbolt approached Swallow on the street.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Champion surfer Tassy Swallow received threatening messages from James Casbolt. Photograph: SWNS.com

In an outlandish blog Casbolt claimed he was “chosen for an intelligence agency mind control and genetic enhancement program before my birth”.

He wrote that he had been trained secretly as a young child to kill people and had “super soldier skills”. He added: “I carried out my first covert assassination for the intelligence community when I was sixteen years old in Brighton,” he said.

Jason Beal, for the defence, said that Casbolt’s response when asked about the effects of his behaviour was one of complete indifference. But he added: “Casbolt did not mean the victims any harm. He is a man who is stepping towards recognition of the seriousness of his actions.”

The court heard that Meijer suffered depression and was unable to talk about what had happened because she was so embarrassed.

Tassy Swallow said she was relieved Casbolt had been jailed. Posting her reaction on Facebook, she said: “No matter how safe you feel in a small town/community, you should ALWAYS be more careful. Girls/Ladies in particular....tell your Mumas where you’re going, and who you’re with ... You never know who’s about and what might be ACCEPTABLE in THEIR heads, especially this time of year.”

She added: “Thoughts are with the US family, bet they’re heaps relieved after todays hearing .... i know i am.”

Hank Meijer is CEO and co-chairman with his brother, Doug, of supermarket chain Meijer. Founded in 1934, it has more than 200 stores in midwestern states. According to Forbes, the Meijer brothers are worth an estimated $7.8bn (£5bn).

Casbolt admitted a number of offences including blackmailing Ms Meijer and harassing Swallow and Everett.

This article was amended on 29 July 2015. An earlier version converted $7.8bn as £5m. This has been corrected.







