ORLANDO, Fla. — An Orlando man was arrested on federal charges of sexual exploitation of a child after he was accused of bullying a 12-year-old girl into sending him nude photos.
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According to the FBI, 45-year-old Thomas Zayas used the popular messaging app “WhatsApp” to contact the girl.
According to an investigative report, Zayas posed as two different teenagers online, and threatened to harm the girl if she didn’t send nude images or videos of herself to him.
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When the girl refused to send the images, Zayas then sent her messages saying he knew where she lived, and sent photos of the apartment complex where she lived.
Investigators were made aware of Zayas when a school resource officer was contacted by a concerned parent of one of the girl’s friends.
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The woman told detectives that her daughter sometimes used her phone to text her friends and that when she received the photos, she notified school employees.
Agents were able to track one of the phone numbers used to text the girl back to Zayas.
When confronted, investigators say Zayas eventually confessed to blackmailing the victim after she “cut him off” and he “felt that she needed to be taught a lesson.”
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Zayas was arrested by federal authorities at his apartment in the Pine Castle area over the weekend and was ordered held without bond after appearing in federal court Tuesday.
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