Wisconsin Teen Charged with Blackmailing Other Students for Nude Photos

From here:

A 14-year-old Whitnall [WI] High School student is accused of coercing teen girls into sending him sexually explicit photos of themselves. …

… The photos investigation began Sept. 21 when two students provided information to the Greenfield police officer who works at Whitnall High School, Wentlandt said.

Investigators eventually recovered 80 nude and semi-nude photos of about 50 girls from the boy’s cell phone and iPod, but they have identified only seven girls who said they sent the boy photos, Wentlandt said.

The boy was suspended after the investigation began and is the subject of an expulsion hearing before the School Board, Whitnall Superintendent Karen Petric said.

The boy, who police say lives in Milwaukee, began receiving photos from girls he is suspected of threatening last summer, Wentlandt said. The girls were between the ages of 13 and 15 at the time the photos were sent, he said.

Of the girls who have been identified, five attend Whitnall, which serves Hales Corners and parts of Greenfield and Franklin; one attends Nathan Hale High School in West Allis; and one attends Hamilton High School in Lisbon.

The boy obtained nude photos by telling girls he would spread rumors about them, Wentlandt said. He also told some girls that unless they sent him nude photos of themselves, he would distribute nude photos of other girls that he already possessed, Wentlandt said.

Investigators say they have found no evidence that the boy distributed any of the photos.

Police on Tuesday asked the district attorney’s office to file charges in Milwaukee County Children’s Court, but no decision has been made. …

Via. No doubt some people will want to write this off as some kind of moral panic about teen sex, but news accounts suggest the girls were pressured and victimized.

–Ann Bartow