FBI seeks sextortion victims of man now in prison for 105 years

The FBI is hoping to locate 240 more victims of a man convicted of using online threats to extort pornographic images from teenage girls.

In November, Lucas Michael Chansler was sentenced to 105 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to nine counts of producing child pornography.

Prosecutors say Chansler, formerly of St Johns, Florida, communicated with hundreds of teen girls in 26 states, three Canadian provinces and the United Kingdom. Authorities have identified 109 victims but believe there are about 240 more.

On Tuesday, the FBI asked for the public's help in identifying additional victims. The agency released a list of screen names he used, including CaptainObvious, sk8er4life2021 and VictorHugo.

In the "sextortion" scheme, Chansler typically posed as a 15-year-old boy who liked to skateboard.

Chansler, now 31, would target girls through social networking sites and pretend to be an acquaintance, friend or admirer, according to the FBI. Once he gained their trust, he would persuade the girls to expose themselves or engage in sexually explicit conduct on video chats he secretly recorded. He then threatened to put the images online or send them to the girls' parents unless they agreed to provide more graphic images.

The FBI identified Chansler after the parents of one of the girls came forward. He was indicted in 2010.

Chansler told authorities he targeted girls who ranged in age from 13 to 18 because adults were "too smart" to fall for his scheme.

"With the expansion of the Internet, online profiles, social media and the ability to anonymize somebody, sextortion has really escalated in the United States and around the world," said Peter Kowenhoven, an assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston office. "Because the Internet is global and cuts across state lines, the victims can be found anywhere."

In a statement released by the agency, Special Agent Larry Meyer said, "It's important that we find these girls so that they don't have to be looking over their shoulder, wondering if this guy is still out there, and is he looking for them and is he going to be coming back."

"Some of these girls, now young women, need assistance. Many probably have never told anyone what they went through," Meyer said.

Because Chansler used many aliases online, many of the victims might not know he has been convicted and is in prison, Kowenhoven said. He said the FBI hopes to identify additional victims to raise awareness about the problem of sextortion.

AP - Reuters