Teen charged with over 300 felonies in alleged sextortion scheme: experiences

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A Pennsylvania highschool senior is going through hundreds of felony charges after authorities reportedly accused him of working a "large-scale felony community" involving sextortion and catfishing.

Zachariah Abraham Meyers, 18, of McMurray — about 15 miles southwest of Pittsburgh — was arrested Friday and charged with greater than 300 felonies , together with trafficking in minors, sexual extortion, illegal contact with a minor, distribution of kid sexual abuse materials, amongst different offenses, based on a courtroom docket obtained by Fox Information Digital.

Police allege Meyers, a senior at Peters Township Excessive College, used social media platforms, together with TikTok and Snapchat, to lure the victims into speaking with him, based on native retailers WTAE and WPXI .

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A view of Peters Township Excessive College in McMurray, Pa. (Google Maps)

Investigators interviewed 30 underage boys through the probe and recognized at the very least 21 victims, WPXI reported.

Authorities say Meyers used photographs of different individuals to catfish the victims. One of many alleged false identities included was that of an grownup movie actress from another country , based on WTAE and WPXI.

"Meyers was in a position to deceive and coerce juvenile males into sending express pornographic photos and movies of themselves," authorities mentioned.

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Authorities say Meyers used photographs of different individuals to catfish the victims. (Getty Photos)

Proof recovered from Meyers’ cellphone allegedly linked him to the felony exercise, WPXI reported.

Meyers is being held at Washington County Jail pending a preliminary listening to.

He was denied bail and is taken into account each a hazard to the neighborhood and a flight threat, based on the courtroom docket.

In a press release supplied to WTAE, the Peters Township College District said police knowledgeable the district of the continued investigation.

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Police allege the scholar used social media platforms, together with TikTok and Snapchat, to lure the victims into speaking with him. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto through Getty Photos)

"The Police have indicated that there isn't a quick security threat to our colleges, and we are going to proceed to cooperate absolutely with the investigation," the Peters Township School District mentioned in a press release.

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"The security and well-being of our college students, employees, and households stay our highest precedence, and we admire all of the efforts of the Peters Township Police on this matter."

The Peters Township College District and the Peters Township Police Division didn't instantly reply to Fox Information Digital's request for remark.

Sophia Compton is a Author at Fox Information Digital. Sophia was beforehand a enterprise reporter protecting finance, vitality and tourism and has expertise as a TV information producer. She graduated with a journalism diploma in 2021 from the College of Hawaii at Manoa. Story suggestions will be despatched to sophia.compton@fox.com.