Man gets 35 years for blackmailing girls for nude photos

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – A southern Illinois man who admitted using blackmail to obtain nude pictures of about 100 girls and women has been sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Joshua P. Breckel of Mascoutah was accused in U.S. District Court of using social media to obtain sexually explicit images and videos from girls as young as 10 throughout the U.S. He allegedly engaged in the activity from 2016 until his arrest in July 2018.

According to prosecutors, the 21-year-old Breckel persuaded them to send the nude photos by feigning a romantic interest in them, offering money or threatening them.

Among his victims were three 15-year-old girls from California, Pennsylvania and Illinois; a 12-year-old girl from Illinois; and a 10-year-old girl from Ohio. Breckel admitted he threatened to kill the Ohio girl if she didn’t send him naked pictures of herself.