A 25-year-old man faces federal charges after police said he threatened a young teenage girl and coerced her into using a Web camera to take explicit images that he later posted on the online social network Myspace.com.
Shaun Brown was arrested and arraigned Monday in federal court on charges that he coerced a minor to engage in a sexual act and that he coerced a minor over the Internet.
Brown met the 13-year-old girl, who lives in Ohio, in an online chat room for cheerleaders, according to court documents.
Police said he pursued her with sexually explicit instant messages and threatened to harm her and her family if she didn't expose herself via the Web cam.
The girl complied and didn't tell her parents until after she found the images on Myspace.com. Brown opened an account on the social networking site in the teenager's name and posted an image of the girl exposing herself and included her name and address, according to court documents.
Brown is being held pending a detention hearing Thursday in Binghamton, prosecutors said.
Officials at Myspace.com did not immediately return calls seeking comment late Monday.
The incident was first reported to police in Ohio, who discovered Brown's identity and contacted the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office in Ithaca, near Brown's Newfield residence. Federal investigators took on the case soon after.
Brown is being held pending a detention hearing Thursday in Binghamton, prosecutors said.
