Accused cyberstalkers extort kids young as 11 into sending explicit photos, CA cops say

San Francisco police said they arrested two men on accusations of cyberstalking and extorting children into sending sexually explicit photos.

San Francisco police arrested Delaney Tang and Vincenz Sison, who were both booked into Santa Rita Jail, according to a news release. Investigators said eight children in North California and Utah were targeted, ranging from 11 to 14 years old.

Tang is accused of reaching out to children and sometimes pretending to be a minor in order to ask for explicit photos and videos, police said. Tang allegedly found the addresses or locations of the children and threatened to harm them if they didn’t send what he requested, according to authorities.

Tang also obtained photos of the children through their friends, police said, and warned he had “more compromising photos of them in order to further extort them.”

The arrests came after police said the dean of students at a San Francisco high school made a report to authorities alleging that students had been extorted through social media for explicit photos and images. Tang was charged with solicitation of child pornography and conspiracy to commit cyberstalking in the Northern District of California in San Francisco. Sison was named a co-conspirator and charged with conspiracy to commit cyberstalking.

Police said Tang threatened to post the pictures and videos of the children if they didn’t send him more.

”In several cases, Tang actually posted the victims’ sexually explicit images and videos, which were then circulated at the victims’ schools,” police said.

Investigators say they executed search warrants and found devices with sexually explicit photos connected to Tang and Sison. Police said they also found a phone that had photos of at least 13 unidentified victims.

This story was originally published November 9, 2020 at 8:29 AM with the headline "Accused cyberstalkers extort kids young as 11 into sending explicit photos, CA cops say."