St. George man accused of threatening to distribute nude photos of woman unless she paid him $10K

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ST. GEORGE — A local man is in jail for allegedly posing as a hacker to extort a woman out of thousands of dollars by threatening to send sexually explicit photos of her to her family and friends if she failed to pay him the money, authorities say.

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The arrest stems from an investigation that began Nov. 12, after officers were tasked with following up on a report of possible sexual exploitation.

According to the probable cause statement filed in support of the arrest, authorities spoke to the reporting party who said she had been pursuing a relationship with a man she met on Facebook, whose identity was later confirmed to be 39-year-old Neil Ross Douglas, a resident of St. George.

As the relationship on social media progressed, a series of messages were sent and received between the pair, some of which included a number of nude and sexually vulnerable images of the individuals sent to one another, the report states.

Within days of the images being sent, the suspect messaged the reporting party telling her his Facebook account had been hacked and that the alleged “hacker” now had compromising images and videos of her, according to the report.

Police say the woman then received a message from the purported “hacker” stating she would have to pay him $10,000 to prevent him from sending the images to the reporting party’s family and friends. She reportedly said she didn’t have the money and then blocked him.

Later that day, the woman’s friend, who was also a friend of Douglas, called to let her know she had just received sexually explicit images of the woman, and the friend also said she believed the images had been sent from Douglas, the report states.

While on the phone with the person who sent the photos, the woman’s friend briefly utilized a video chat feature and took a screenshot of the “hacker.” According to the report, the friend recognized the “hacker” as Douglas, and then confirmed the man’s identity by referring to one of the suspect’s children by a specific nickname that was only known to close associates of the suspect.

When the friend asked Douglas how he obtained the images, the report states, the suspect’s only reply was that he had the images for the purpose of a “people’s payment” in a message that was accompanied by three emojis depicting “frozen blue faces.”

The officer also noted that “both the picture of Neil on the video chat and the unique nickname showed the person to be on the other end of the account was Neil (Douglas).”

Subpoenas were obtained for the social media accounts and confirmed the images had been sent to Douglas, and the suspect then sent the images to the mutual friend while also reportedly asking for the reporting party’s phone number.

After further investigation and speaking with Douglas, police say there was enough probable cause to believe that Douglas threatened to distribute the explicit images of the woman, whose face was visible in a number of the photos, to her friends and family with the intention of extorting her out of $10,000.

The suspect was later arrested and booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility facing two third-degree felony counts of sexual extortion – sexual conduct to distribute intimate images. He was also booked on four misdemeanor warrants issued out of Washington County Justice Court.

Sextortion cases continue to climb

In September, the FBI issued a report stating the pandemic saw a surge of sextortion cases in 2020, and those numbers continued to rise significantly throughout 2021, a discovery made by the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, an agency that had received more than 16,000 such complaints by July of last year.

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The costs associated with sextortion cases are staggering.

The victims in the 16,000 cases alone reported losses in excess of $8 million. The report also found that nearly half of the victims were between the ages of 20-39, while those over 60 years of age comprised the third largest age group affected by this type of criminal activity.

Similar to the start of any typical online relationship, the initial contact with the fraudster was consistent with many online encounters and does not typically appear malicious, but soon after the encounter, the FBI says, the so-called “friend” suggests they move the conversation to another messaging platform and then initiate the exchange of sexually explicit material.

Once the victim complies and sends the images, or in some cases, performs the act, the “friend” begins threatening the victim and demanding payment, or else the so-called “friend” will share the images with the victim’s contacts, friends and family.

To avoid becoming a victim of such an attack, the FBI recommends keeping all devices turned off when not in use, including webcams, and also warned to not open any attachments from people you do not know.

And finally, the FBI says, “Never send compromising images of yourself to anyone – ever – no matter who they are – or who they say they are.”

On Tuesday, Douglas was formally charged with the offenses. He is scheduled to make an initial appearance in 5th District Court on Thursday. He is being held on $5,000 bail.

Ed. Note: A new Utah law generally prohibits the release of arrest booking photos until after a conviction is obtained. 

This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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