A Pennsylvania man is accused of pretending to be a teen on Snapchat to sexually extort at least nine girls between the ages of 12 and 15 in multiple states, authorities said.
Police said they believe “many more victims” are yet to be identified.
Jonathan Brodecki, 21, of Bensalem, turned himself in to police May 30 on charges related to nine incidents of sexual extortion, according to a May 31 news release from the Bensalem Police Department.
McClatchy News reached out to Brodecki’s attorney for comment May 31 but did not immediately hear back.
Police were informed in January about a Snapchat user with the handle “jack_goodric” sexually extorting a 15-year-old girl, the department said.
Brodecki used the “jack_goodric” account to pose as a “middle-school or early high-school-aged boy” and convinced the teen to “send him sexually explicit photos and videos”, police said.
Brodecki threatened to post the girl’s images publicly when she tried to break off contact, according to police.
During their investigation, authorities identified eight additional victims between the ages of 12 and 15 who communicated with “jack_goodric”, and were led to believe he was someone around their age, police said.
Brodecki also threatened to find, rape and publicly post images of a 13-year-old girl, investigators said.
Investigators learned Brodecki was using a fake Instagram account “for the same illegal purposes” as the Snapchat persona, police said.
Brodecki faces numerous charges including sexual abuse of children, sexual extortion, possession of child pornography, unlawful contact with a minor, stalking, corruption of minors, dissemination of sexually explicit material to a minor and terroristic threat, according to court records.
Brodecki was booked at Bucks County Correctional Facility and is being held with a 10% of US$5mil (RM23.47mil) bail, police said.
Bensalem Township is about a 20-mile drive northeast from Philadelphia. – The Charlotte Observer/Tribune News Service