Utah Man Accused of Extorting Nude Photos From Over 50 Juvenile Girls

A Utah man is accused of extorting dozens of underage girls to send him nude photos, allegedly threatening to circulate Photoshopped images of them if they did not agree. The Utah Attorney General’s Office issued a statement Tuesday announcing an arrest warrant for the man, identified as 19-year-old Gabe Ryan Gilbert. Gilbert was booked into jail this week after being sent home from a mission in Mexico for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Prosecutors say Gilbert threatened up to 50 underage girls on social media for nude photos. He faces four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and five counts of aggravated sexual extortion of a child.

Several teenage girls claim that Gilbert threatened to Photoshop their faces on images of naked women and post them online if they did not send him nude photos. Gilbert was allegedly using a fake name on Snapchat to threaten the girls, which included his ex-girlfriend. According to court documents, Gilbert asked a 16-year-old girl to send nudes, and when she did not comply he threatened to send the images to her sick grandmother. “OK bet your [grandma] will be very happy when she finds out you sending out nudes and got exposed. That’s a great gift to help her get better in the hospital,” Gilbert messaged, according to court documents.