South Carolina authorities have charged three people who they say were involved in a “sextortion” scheme being operated out of a state prison, reports said.
Authorities announced the arrests of Tori Boiter, 53; Ashely Scates, 48; and Seth Shurburtt, 36, who are accused of helping an unidentified inmate run a scheme, Columbia television station WACH reported. The inmate is accused of creating online dating profiles with a contraband cell phone and duping the victims into sending him money.
WACH reported the inmate would exchange sexual photos with the victim before posing as a parent, lawyer or private investigator. The inmate would then tell the victim they were communicating with a minor and threaten legal action unless the victim paid a large sum of money, the outlet reported.
The inmate, then housed at Lieber Correctional Institution in Ridgeville, is accused of extorting more than $146,000 from at least five people.
“The public will not be safe until state prison systems can stop inmates from using illegal cellphones to commit crimes,” South Carolina Department of Corrections Director Bryan Stirling told the outlet in a statement. “SCDC will not tolerate this illegal behavior and is taking enormous steps to identify and deactivate these phones.”
Boiter faces charges of bank fraud, securities fraud related to money laundering, financial transaction card fraud more than $1,000, two counts of forgery, breach of trust, criminal conspiracy, violation of the Computer Crimes Act and possession of methamphetamines, the outlet reported.
Scates faces charges of bank fraud, three counts of breach of trust, securities fraud related to money laundering, financial transaction fraud more than $1,000, criminal conspiracy and violation of the Computer Crimes Act, according to WACH.
The television station reported that Shurburtt faces charges of bank fraud, securities fraud related to money laundering, violation of the Computer Crimes Act, financial identity theft, three counts of breach of trust, financial transaction card fraud of more than $1,000 and criminal conspiracy.
Charges against the inmate are pending, WACH reported.
What a bunch of losers.