The FBI is asking victims of what it’s calling the county’s largest-ever ‘sextortion’ case to come forward.
31-year-old Lucas Chansler from St. Johns County admitted to using social media to extort teenage girls. The FBI says from 2007 to 2010 Chansler impersonated teenage boys online and got girls to send him explicit photos. He targeted more than 350 girls in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom.
FBI Special Agent Michelle Klimt says only 109 victims have been identified.
“We’re hoping, with the assistance of the public, we can find all the victims in order to help with the healing process,” she said.
FBI Special Agent Larry Meyer, who lead the investigation, says the crime has had lasting effects on the girls.
“Of the 109 victims we’ve identified, we’re aware of at least five of them attempted suicide,” he said. “Two of them attempted it twice. Two families relocated their daughter because they were afraid Chansler knew where they lived that he would come and abduct their daughter.”
The FBI has posted a confidential questionnaire online and a phone line for victims to come forward. They’ve also shared a list of 135 screen names Chansler used online. Nine of the victims already identified live in Florida.
