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Indiana - from www.thestarpress.com - Authorities fear that a Clay County man arrested on a single count of sexual exploitation of children might figure in a nationwide case of Internet sex crime with perhaps hundreds of young victims.
If true, it would rank as one of the broadest cases of "sextortion" on record, federal officials say.
The FBI and U.S. attorney's office today are publicly releasing a police booking mug shot of Richard Leon Finkbiner, hoping his photo can generate leads that will allow them to identify children pictured in thousands of sexually explicit videos that authorities say they found on Finkbiner's computer.
Finkbiner, 39, was arrested at his Brazil home, which also houses the office of Clay County Internet, authorities say. Finkbiner owns the Internet services company, according to the small-business listing website manta.com.
Federal officials were led to Finkbiner through complaints from two 14-year-old boys, who went to police in their home states of Michigan and Maryland saying they were victims of what authorities call "sextortion," according to a federal criminal complaint filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Terre Haute. Sextortion is the blackmailing of people by threatening to publicly disclose sexually explicit photos of them.
Finkbiner was arrested Friday.
After being shown a photo of one of the boys by police, Finkbiner told authorities "he had induced or coerced the production of videos and images of so many people engaged in sexually explicit conduct that he could not readily recognize every individual," according to the complaint.
Finkbiner confessed to the Internet sexual exploitation of "at least 100 individuals," the nine-page FBI complaint says.
He was being held Sunday in the Vigo County Jail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday in federal court in Terre Haute.
"This office will vociferously oppose" any attempt Finkbiner might make to seek his release on bail at the hearing, said Brant Cook, an assistant U.S. attorney.
The U.S. attorney in Indianapolis, Joe Hogsett, said federal investigators are trying to figure out how broad the case is and whether others are involved as perpetrators.
"We are fearful it will be vast, but we don't know that," he said Sunday. "This is a case, frankly, in its infancy."
He said federal officials took the unusual step of releasing the mug shot of the defendant to try to get victims or their families to call the FBI if they recognize him.
Almost all of the youths pictured in seized videos are boys, and most appear to be 14 to 16 years old, Cook said.
Cook said Finkbiner used an alias to contact the two 14-year-olds and exchanged messages with them using online chat services set up for private, anonymous conversation.
Such chat services "lend themselves to extortion schemes," said Cook, who led the prosecution of a Maryland man recently sentenced to 33 years in prison for sexual exploitation of children, including a girl from Indiana.
The case involving Finkbiner could expand to include many more victims.
"Although it is impossible to know the number of victims at this stage, the presence of hundreds of victims would put this investigation and prosecution among the larger -- if not largest -- sextortion prosecutions ever undertaken in the United States," said a statement from the U.S. attorney's office.
The two victims mentioned in the complaint against Finkbiner are from Prince George's County, Md., and Oakland County, Mich.
The complaint alleges that, from November to February, Finkbiner sent both boys video clips he had captured online that depicted them in sexually explicit poses. He then allegedly told the boys that if they didn't follow his instructions, he would release the video clips on the Internet or to their friends. Finkbiner is charged with coercing one of the boys into recording additional sexually explicit videos.
Cook said those involved in sextortion typically want sexual videos or photos, not money.
"The thing of value being extorted is more (sexually explicit) images. There are people in the world who value those highly."
FBI asks for help in 'sextortion' case
The FBI wants the public’s help in identifying hundreds of minors shown in sexual poses in videos that authorities say they found on the computer of Richard Leon Finkbiner, 39, of Brazil, Ind. Authorities have released Finkbiner’s mug shot, hoping people recognize him from videos he might have sent out over the Internet. Finkbiner was arrested Friday and faces one count of sexual exploitation of children.
