Police: Revere man impersonating Bieber got nude pics from child
An 11-year-old California girl who previously sent naked pictures to a man she believed was pop star Justin Bieber, unraveled a “sextortion” scheme run by a Revere man, who is now behind bars, police said.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department detectives arrested Bryan Asrary, 24, on Saturday with the assistance of Massachusetts State Police charging him with possession of child pornography, which cops found on his laptop and cellphone, police said. He was held on $20,000 bail after he was arraigned at Chelsea District Court by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office, police said.
“During an interview with Bryan Asrary, he not only confessed to extorting the victim for sexual images and videos, but also implicated himself in similar crimes against other young girls throughout the country,” the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. “Additional victims will be identified as part of the ongoing investigation.”
In California, Asrary is facing charges of extortion, manufacturing child pornography, and communicating with a minor with the intent to commit a sex act, police said.
Police said the scheme started two years ago when the girl, who was 9 at the time, got a message from someone on her Instagram account from someone who offered to introduce her to Bieber.
“Excited at the proposition to text with Justin Bieber, the young victim accepted the offer and was directed to set up an account on the social media site, KIK,” police said. “The victim then began communicating on KIK with someone she believed was actually Justin Bieber. A short time later, the suspect, who represented himself to be Bieber, began demanding nude photos of the victim and threatened harm if she didn’t cooperate. The victim cooperated and sent nude selfies and video as the suspect had demanded.”
Cops said two years passed and then the suspect contacted the victim again, threatening to publish the previous pictures if she did not send more. This time the girl went to her mother who contacted police.