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Orange County resident Cameron McEwen, age 21, of Middletown, was arrested on Tuesday, April 25 for targeting at least two girls online and forcing them to engage in sexually explicit activity or he would share their photos with others, said the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams.
The criminal complaint charges that McEwen persuaded a 16-year-old girl (Victim 1) living in Alaska to engage in sexually explicit activity, take photos and videos of herself doing so, and transmit the photos and videos, via Snapchat.
McEwen then threatened to hack into the girl's cell phone and Snapchat account if she did not comply with his demands.
The complaint said in April, McEwen knowingly used a social media platform to communicate with and entice Victim 1, as well as send interstate threats to Victim 1.
Initially, McEwen, posing as multiple different people, connected on Snapchat with an 18-year-old individual, who he offered to pay for sexually explicit images and videos. When that individual sent him the requested content, he threatened to leak the images and videos to the individual’s family and friends and harm her if she did not find another person to send sexually explicit material, the complaint said.
The individual sought out Victim-1, who connected with McEwen on Snapchat where he then began sending Victim-1 messages threatening to hack her Snapchat account and cell phone if she did not send him sexually explicit photos and videos, the complaint says.
McEwen was convicted in Orange County Court in January 2022, of rape and was on probation when he committed the alleged offenses, the US Attorney said.
Police said that an investigation determined that in December 2020, McEwen allegedly coerced and raped a minor “numerous times” while living in Middletown.
He was charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a minor, which carries a maximum sentence of 50 years in prison, and one count of making extortionate interstate communications, which carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison.
The investigation is ongoing and the FBI requests that any individuals with information concerning McEwen and any individuals who may have encountered someone using the Snapchat user names “X,” “Cam,” “dzys.wlrd,” “itzbeendrippy,” “fendii,” and “fendii_kashout,” please contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI and reference this case.
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