A Peters Township teen is accused of sexting a 14-year-old boy earlier this summer and trying to set up a meeting for a sexual encounter.
Alexander Scott, 18, was charged by Washington police Thursday with numerous felony counts after communicating with the boy on an internet chat board June 29 that escalated until the juvenile felt he was being harassed and contacted authorities, according to court documents.
Police said the two teens exchanged sexual images through a social media app, which were found on the victim’s phone after investigators took custody of the cellular device to search it. During the text exchange, Scott allegedly told the boy to delete the images they had shared because “it’s child porn,” according to court documents.
Scott allegedly brought another adult into the messaging, telling the boy he wanted to share his profile from the social media app with a friend who was a Peters Township High School graduate, city police said. There was a conversation later in which the three discussed having a sexual encounter together, but the boy had reservations and backed out before it could be arranged despite Scott allegedly trying to coax him into meeting with them, according to court documents.
During the investigation into the communication between Scott and the boy, city police spoke with Peters Township police officers, who told them that Scott “had been the subject of a previous similar investigation,” although court documents did not elaborate on what that entailed.
It was not clear if Scott was involved in the “sextortion and catfishing” scheme in which a Peters Township High School student is accused of coercing other students into sending lewd photos and videos of themselves and then blackmailing them into sending more images or even meeting with adults for sexual encounters.
Zachariah Abraham Meyers, 19, who is a former Peters Township High School student, is accused of enticing 25 fellow students to send compromising photos or videos of themselves before his arrest on multiple felony charges in February.
Since Meyers’ arrest earlier this year, the investigation has expanded significantly with local and federal authorities reviewing cellphone information from the victims in the sextortion case, leading to charges against two other men who either allegedly sexted or met for a sexual encounter with one of the boys involved in the case.
Aaron Foster White, 30, Fallowfield Township, was charged by Peters Township police July 23 for allegedly sending photographs and videos he took of his genitalia to a 15-year-old boy during multiple interactions using a social media app last summer, court documents allege.
Charles Ezekiel Usner, 23, of Mt. Lebanon, was arrested Monday and charged by Peters police with communicating with a 15-year-old boy in late June before picking up the teen July 1 and driving him to the park where the two allegedly performed sex acts on one another at Peters Lake Park, according to court documents.
Local and federal investigators found images on the teen’s phone while investigating the case involving Meyers, prompting them to charge both White and Usner.
Scott was arraigned Thursday afternoon by District Judge Charles Tenny on felony charges of disseminating images of child sex acts, corruption of minors, unlawful contact with a minor and criminal use of a communication facility. He is being held at the Washington County jail on $250,000 cash bond while awaiting his preliminary hearing tentatively scheduled for 2 p.m. Aug. 18.
