Sheriff: 100 Possible Victims In Online 'Sextortion' Case
PONTIAC (WWJ) - The investigation into an Indiana man accused of coercing teenage boys into recording and sending him sexually explicit images is intensifying.
Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said the man may have more than 100 victims, and federal prosecutors are saying this may turn out to be one of the largest cases of online sexual extortion in the nation's history.
"He [the suspect] has already made mention to some of the investigators that he has so many victims he doesn't even recognize their faces at this point," Bouchard said in an interview with WWJ Newsradio 950's Marie Osborne. "So, it's obviously very disturbing."
Bouchard said 39-year-old Richard Finkbiner threatened to post sexually explicit videos of the victims online if they didn't do what they wanted. He said most of the suspected victims were between the ages of 14 and 16.
Bouchard said the investigation continues to find out just how many victims there were. He said authorities are searching world-wide.
Oakland County's Internet investigation team is working the case.
"So, not only can they track people across the Internet, they can go into computers, recover erased files, break passwords and do things that these predators often try to do," he said.
Finkbiner was arrested last week after one victim, a 14-year-old Oakland County boy, told his parents what happened.
Authorities say "sextortion" is a growing crime online.
