Feds charge St. Paul man with extorting teens he connected with on social media

Paul Walsh, Star Tribune
·1 min read
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Federal prosecutors have charged a St. Paul man with extorting teenage girls he connected with on social media to send him sexually explicit photos and videos.

Timothy Lennard Gebhart, 37, was indicted Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis on counts of producing and distributing child pornography, and extortion in connection with a scheme that ran from November 2021 to March 2022.

Gebhart is being held in the Washington County jail awaiting his first court appearance, which has yet to be scheduled. Court records do not list an attorney for him.

According to the indictment, Gebhart used Instagram and SnapChat to contact a 14-year-old girl and a 16-year-old girl. They allegedly sent him photos, some of which he allegedly paid for. He then allegedly used their contacts on the social platforms to find other minors to exploit.

At various times, Gebhart pressured his victims to send him additional sexually explicit material, threatening to send the images he already had to family, friends and classmates if they refused, the indictment alleges. In one message to a victim, he allegedly wrote: "you're gonna do what I ask you to do or guess who I'll be messaging."

Gebhart also sent his victims "graphic and explicit videos of suicides and violent murders to coerce and intimidate the minor victims," the indictment read.