A 26-year-old Dallas man is facing a slate of serious charges after allegedly posing as someone else online to coerce explicit content from a child and an adult over Snapchat in a months-long sextortion scheme uncovered by New Jersey authorities.
Detectives began their investigation in April, after Lyndhurst Police reported suspected online activities to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.
The investigation tracked the source of the messages to a Dallas home associated with suspect Quristafer D. Land.
Authorities claim Land used many fake online profiles to manipulate and extort his victims.
On Thursday, Bergen County investigators, along with Dallas police and U.S. Marshals, executed a search warrant at the Dallas residence. According to officials, Land used Snapchat accounts linked to impersonated identities to coerce victims into transmitting sexually explicit photos and videos over a period of months. One of the casualties was a minor.
Land was charged with first-degree production of child sexual abuse material, second-degree aggravated sexual extortion, third-degree sexual extortion, and third-degree impersonation. He was arrested in Dallas and is currently being held in the Dallas County Jail for extradition to New Jersey. Authorities highlighted that the investigation is ongoing and that additional charges may be expected.
Authorities believe the online predator used deception and threats to exploit his victims from hundreds of miles away.