Poconos man accused of demanding explicit photos, money from NJ teen
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Editor's note: The names, age and gender of the victims has been withheld from this article to protect their identities. They are referred to using they/them pronouns.
A Blakeslee man has been arrested and charged with sexual exploitation and attempted enticement of a minor after allegedly demanding explicit images from a teenager and threatening to post them online if they did not send him money.
Diego Ramos, 19, has been charged in federal court in New Jersey. He is accused of coercing a teenager to send sexually explicit images and videos to him via Instagram over the course of a year and a half.
According to a complaint filed by a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, starting in May of 2021, Ramos gave instructions regarding specific positions he wanted the victim to pose in. In September 2021, he started demanding money, threatening to release the photos if the teen did not pay. The victim, who is now 17, sent a total of $12,982 through November of 2022.
In March of this year, Ramos also began demanding images of the victim’s sibling, who was about 15 years old, according to the FBI agent, which they provided. The victim allegedly sent more material of themself instead when Ramos asked them to leave a phone in their sibling's bedroom while they changed clothes. These videos included the older victim “engaging in sexual intercourse with an unidentified” partner.
In mid-November, law enforcement began talking to Ramos while posing as the victim. Ramos again threatened to release the photos if the victim did not pay him. He also sent “a collage of approximately 67 sexually explicit images of” the two teenagers, the FBI complaint said.
Sexual exploitation of a child has a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison, and attempted enticement of a minor has a mandatory minimum of 10 years. The maximum penalty on each is life in prison.
Ramos is in custody after appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge André M. Espinosa in Newark on Wednesday.
This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Poconos man charged with sexual exploitation of NJ teen
