A man in southern Illinois has been arrested for trying to blackmail women after obtaining their nude pictures. He had collected nude photos of about 100 girls and women. Joshua P Breckel of Mascoutah was accused in the US District Court of using social media to obtain sexually explicit images and videos from girls as young as 10 years of age across the US. US Millionaire Has Sex With Minor Girl After Putting Private Plane on Autopilot, Arrested.

The 21-year-old has been allegedly a part of this activity from 2016 until his arrest in July 2018. Prosecutors termed him as a 'prolific sextortionist' who persuaded the victims to send him nude pictures by faking a romantic relationship with them. While he offered money to some of them, others he threatened.  Victims included three 15-year-old girls from California, Pennsylvania and Illinois; a 12-year-old girl from Illinois; and a 10-year-old girl from Ohio. Joshua admitted he threatened to kill the Ohio girl if she didn't send him naked pictures of herself. Texas Mother Sentenced 40 Years Prison for Letting Her Daughters Slowly Die in Car As She Partied.

The case against Joshua surfaced in April 2019 when police in Middlesex, New Jersey, in April 2018. The incident came to light after mother of a 15-year-old girl filed a complaint with the police after she told her that an online acquaintance on the messaging app Whisper was forcing into sending her nude photo of herself. Joshua pleaded guilty to charges including receiving child pornography and interstate transmission of a threat with the intent of extortion. He also confessed that he threatened to kill the Ohio girl if she did not send him nudes. US Mother Kills Two-Year-Old Son for Bedwetting, Sentenced to 40 Years Jail.

Once she sent one picture, she was forced into sending more photos and also offered USD 5,000 if she forced more friends into doing the same. When she refused, she threatened to share the photo with her family and friends on social media. Joshua used to ask girls to collect photos from girls on Snapchat. He asked them to include their faces in the photos, and hold up three fingers to prove that they were not sending fake pictures.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 13, 2019 04:53 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).