Richard Leon Finkbiner was arrested
last Friday on charges he blackmailed young boys into engaging in
sexually explicit activity over the Internet.
The Associated Press reported
that Finkbiner was arrested in his home in Brazil, Indiana.
In their criminal complaint, federal
prosecutors allege that Finkbiner secretly recorded two 14-year-old
boys – one from Michigan, another Maryland – performing sexual
acts during anonymous video chats. He then used the videos to
“sextort” the boys, threatening he would post the videos on gay
porn sites unless they performed for him.
“So u wanna play or b a famous gay
porn star?” Finkbiner allegedly asked the Michigan boy.
When the boy complained, “u know that
I under age and that is against the law and u could be arrested for
this,” Finkbiner, the owner of a company which sells website
hosting and other computer-related services, replied: “yes it is
illegal im ok with that … I won't get caught im a hacker I covered
my tracks.”
After coercing the boy twice into
participating in producing child pornography, the minor told family
members, who in turn contacted officials.
Authorities said they found “thousands
of sexually explicit images and videos depicting hundreds of
individuals, which may indicate the existence of many other victims.”
Finkbiner, 39, faces up to 30 years in
prison if convicted on two counts of sexual exploitation of a child.
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