A 17-year-old girl claims an Indianapolis man threatened to release photos to her parents if she did not engage in sex.
(Dillsboro, Ind.) - Two men are accused of inappropriate relations with a Dearborn County 17-year-old, then sharing images through Facebook and text messaging.
The victim’s shared her story with forensic interviewers at the Children’s Advocacy Center of Southeastern Indiana in Dillsboro in August of 2017.
She said she and William Sherman, 47, of North Vernon, engaged in intercourse. She claimed that during one of the encounters, Sherman’s phone was used to live stream video of the acts to another man she met on Facebook, Michael James Smith, 23, of Indianapolis.
The victim told the CAC interviewer that Smith, who is also known as “Jay Ripper”, threatened would tell her parents about the pictures if she did not send pictures of come to meet him in Indianapolis.
Indiana State Police interviewed Sherman, who allegedly admitted to sending images of a minor engaging in sex acts to Smith.
Detectives traveled to Indianapolis to interview Smith at the office where he worked. Smith allegedly admitted to threatening to send explicit photos to the teen’s parents if she did not send him more.
A search warrant was obtained for Sherman’s Facebook account. Detectives say they found sexual images and communication between Sherman and Smith.
Sherman and Smith were formally charged in Dearborn County this week. They each face two counts of Child Exploitation (level 5 felony) and a single count of Conspiracy to Commit Child Exploitation (level 5 felony).
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