Regina police uncover adult-only web scheme

In the wake of Regina police exposing an alleged blackmail scheme that involved women who were solicited to become models for an adultonly website, investigators are asking anyone else who may have fallen victim to step forward.

“Anyone who has been a victim of this type of offence — whether it’s connected to these cases or not — it’s really important to report to police,” Regina Police Service spokeswoman Elizabeth Popowich said Thursday. She said it’s certainly possible there are other victims, and they may be reluctant to report an offence given the intimate nature of the photos and videos involved.

Regina police charged a 26-year-old local man with three counts of extortion stemming from its investigation into an “agent” that sought models for an adultonly website — only to allegedly turn to blackmail later.

Johnathan Andrew Tokar made his first appearance on the charges in Regina Provincial Court on Thursday. He was remanded in custody and returns to court on April 2.

The alleged victims of the scheme are three women, two aged 19 and a 21-yearold.

The women individually made complaints to police, leading tech crime investigators to recognize a similar pattern.

It is alleged that, in separate instances, the women were befriended by a man through Facebook. He presented himself to the women as an agent looking for models for an adult-only website and invited them to supply various photos of themselves for use on the site.

After they did, the women had a change of heart and decided not to pursue the arrangement. Then several months later, between October 2012 and February 2013, the women received text messages from an unknown man stating he had in his possession compromising photos of them.

He went on to provide personal information about them, including where they lived and copies of the actual photos. He told them that if they didn’t provide more intimate photos or videos, he would send the ones he had to their families and friends. The women did not comply with his demands and turned to police.

“We are all learning to appreciate that things exist on the Internet forever,” said Popowich. “It’s guaranteed that your own personal circumstances will change, and so somewhere down the road — whether it’s a potential employer or a spouse or your children — that there may be things that they could access on the Internet that you may not wish for them to see.”

“Even apart from this case ... be careful of what you post,” she added.