Facebook extortionist faces sentencing put over to Friday
19-year-old man convicted of setting up fake account and trying to extort photos from teen
A 19-year-old Nova Scotia man convicted of extortion and making and distributing child pornography, in a case that involved Facebook, fake accounts and a vulnerable teenage girl, will learn his sentence on Friday.
In court Tuesday, the Crown argued the man should receive two years of probation, a weapons ban, and an order that he stay away from people under age 14. The Crown also wants the man ordered to stay off the internet, unless he's under adult supervision, and to be ordered to do 100 hours of community service.
The Crown also wants a complete ban on the man using social media or video games.
The man's defence lawyer sought a two-year conditional discharge, meaning he would have no record if he did not violate the conditions.
The sentencing hearing was adjourned Tuesday and will resume Friday morning.
The offences happened between November 2012 and November 2013 when the man was just 16, which means his identity is protected by the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
Identified in court documents by the letter Y, the man created a fake Facebook account to reach out to a 16-year-old girl. The account used a fake name described in court documents as B.P.
Using that account, Y persuaded the girl to take a topless selfie and send it to him.
'Devastating' to victim
At some point, the topless selfie was posted on the girl's own Facebook page and available to be viewed by her 2,000 Facebook friends.
It was "devastating" to the girl, Judge Anne Derrick wrote in April when she found the man guilty.
The man demanded more pictures from the girl and threatened to distribute her topless picture further if she didn't comply. The girl never sent additional photos.
The man eventually grew tired of maintaining the fake Facebook account. He then created a second fake account and used it to reach out to the girl, telling her that the person supposedly linked to the first account had committed suicide.
The news was shared with a second girl, who had also become attached to the fake B.P. personality. Both girls were overwrought, tried to commit suicide and were hospitalized.
The first girl then contacted police.