Ohio man, Gregory Kasarcik charged, with 'sextortion' of Arvada girl via Skype, authorities say

Alan Gathright wrote this article for abc7

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. - An Ohio man has been charged with three felonies for sexually extorting a 13-year-old Arvada girl over the Internet from 1,300 miles away, the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office said Wednesday.

The man investigators are calling a "sextortion" suspect, Gregory Scott Kasarcik, 24, of Ripley, Ohio, has been extradited to Colorado.

He appeared March 5 in Jefferson County court, where he was advised of the charges against him -- sexual exploitation, Internet sexual exploitation and criminal exploitation, said Pam Russell, spokeswoman for the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office.

Arvada police were called on Jan. 2 by a woman who said two traumatized neighbor girls -- sisters, ages 13 and 16 -- had come to her door crying about something that had happened on the computer. The teens were babysitters for the neighbor and their mom was at work. 

The 13-year-old girl had met Gregory Kasarcik on a teen social website called SceneKids. His profile claimed that he was a 15-year-old boy, according to an arrest affidavit. Kasarcik used the screen name "ericfringe2" and profile photo showing a shirtless white male with long hair, the affidavit said.

Kasarcik used the pretense that he needed the girl's help solving a camera problem to get her to move from the SceneKids website to a "live" camera Skype session, according to the affidavit.

Suddenly, the man was sending texts demanding that she take off her clothes. The girl refused, but the man said he had her IP address and would blow up the new laptop that her grandparents just had given her for Christmas, the affidavit said. Her grandmother had specifically instructed the girl to take care of the laptop and not damage it.

The frightened girl took off her clothes.

The man ordered her to perform sex acts on camera and, when the girl refused, he threatened to post her nude photographs on the Internet, the affidavit said. The traumatized girl gave in to the man's repeated threats, lying nude on her bed in front of the laptop camera, performing explicit sexual acts.

Eventually, the 13 year old turned off the camera and turned to her 16-year-old sister for help. The older sister texted  "ericfringe2" via Skype, warning him that she would call police if he posted her little sister's nude photos on the Internet.

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The only way to stop webcam hacking is to cover your webcam.  Check out C-SLIDE which manufactures #webcamcovers for all devices (computers, tablets, ipads, iphones, smart phones, smart tv’s, and more). http://www.c-slide.com

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How to Avoid Becoming a Victim of Sextortion

Katie Gatto wrote an article in Tomsguide.com 

In 2011, naked photos of Hollywood starlet Scarlett Johansson made their way onto the Web. The photos, which Johansson had taken herself with her smartphone, were posted on a variety of different sites, and then went viral.

Such things happened to a whole host of celebrities, including Christina Aguilera, Ali Larter, Miley Cyrus, Jessica Alba, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens. No doubt, they had something to worry about — but as it turns out, so do normal people.

t's a process called "sextortion," and it's exactly what it sounds like: sexual extortion. It all begins when someone gets their hands on a racy photo of you. It could be that your phone got stolen, or that an ex-boyfriend decided sharing those nude pictures was a fun way to get over you, or that someone broke into your home computer and programmed thewebcam to take photos of you without your knowledge.

"I just could not believe that this was actually happening to me," said M, a sextortion victim who wished not to be identified by his full name, "I thought it was a prank, but it wasn't."

It seems like a nightmare scenario, but it happens to real people. Luis Mijangos of Santa Ana, Calif., was sentenced to six years in prison in 2011 for hacking into the computers of more than 100 women and teenage girls. If he found nude photos, Mijangos would contact the women and threaten to post the images online unless they provided more naked photos.

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The only way to stop webcam hacking is to cover your webcam.  Check out C-SLIDE which manufactures webcam covers for all devices (computers, tablets, ipads, iphones, smart phones, smart tv’s, and more).

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Ohio man accused in sextortion of Arvada teen

An article by Laurie Cipriano, KUSA A man had access into the bedroom of a Colorado teen – through a computer.

Investigators say it's sextortion.

It's their word for the threat allegedly leveled against a 8th grade girl by an online predator in another state.

Greg Kasarcik, 24, who lives in Ohio, has been arrested and extradited to Jefferson County.

He's charged with the online sexual exploitation of a girl from Arvada.

Kasarcik is charged with three felony counts for sexually extorting the middle school girlL Sexual Exploitation, Internet Sexual Exploitation, and Criminal Extortion.

Police believe Kasarcik used a threat to get his way.

Jefferson County District Attorney Peter Weir said Kasarcik was fishing for a victim.

Court documents say Kasarcik met the teen in a chat room. Under the screen name "ericfringe2" he told her he was 15 years old - and convinced the her to take the conversation to Skype.

While 'Skyping,' Kasarcik is accused of coaxing the girl to undress and perform a sex act.

To get what he wanted - internet records of 300 pages of his chat activity, show Kasarcik reverted to a method he's used before. Records of other online conversations Kasarcik had supported probable cause in the Arvada teen's case.

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