The online extortion of a 14-year-old girl for nude images led to an early morning raid Friday at a Bethlehem home, according to court records.
FBI agents and officers with the Bethlehem Police Department raided the home in the 2400 block of Woodstock Drive, part of a residential neighborhood off Linden Street in Northeast Bethlehem.
Authorities were seen removing evidence in brown paper bags, including a laptop.
Bethlehem police Lt. Timothy Cooper said the search warrant was served by the department’s Criminal Investigations Unit in an ongoing child porn investigation. No arrests were made and no criminal charges have been filed.
Potential evidence collected will undergo digital forensic analysis, Cooper said.
According to court records, the Kent County sheriff’s office in Michigan began last December investigating the “sextortion” of a 14-year-old girl.
A Snapchat user contacted the girl via Snapchat, and sent the girl a nude photo of herself that she had taken, investigators said.
The Snapchat user threatened to send the photos to the girl’s friends and family, unless she sent him more nude photos.
When the girl initially did not give more photos, the Snapchat user sent several of the nude photos to one of the girl’s classmates, authorities said. The classmate told the girl he received the photos.
“In fear that he would further expose her,” the girl sent the Snapchat user nude videos and images, investigators said.
A Kent County sheriff’s deputy got a search warrant for the Snapchat user’s account, which listed a Gmail email address and a Pennsylvania phone number with a 570 area code.
The Google account, which had the same phone number connected to it and a separate recovery email address, had a large amount of pornographic material and screenshots stored on it, including screenshots of Snapchats asking females for nude or sexual images or videos, authorities said.
The recovery email address was connected to IP addresses, including an RCN account registered to the home on Woodstock Drive, authorities said.
Bethlehem police started investigating the case in July, after getting information from an FBI agent in Michigan.
The raid on Friday was based on probable cause that evidence of distributing, receiving and possessing child pornography may be found in the home, according to the search warrant.
Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.