FRANKLIN COUNTY, Pa. — A Florida man is facing extradition to Pennsylvania for the sexual exploitation and abuse of multiple Franklin County teens.
According to Pennsylvania State Police, since 2019, troopers with the Chambersburg Barracks have been investigating reports of the sexual extortion- known as "sextortion- of minors. The Criminal Investigative Unit (CIU) conducted an extensive investigation which revealed five victims across Franklin County.
Sextortion is the criminal act of receiving sexually explicit material and using it as blackmail.
According to PSP, sextortion schemes occur in online environments where people- especially minors- feel most comfortable using social media sites, gaming sites, or video chat applications that feel familiar and safe to minors, such as Discord, Instagram, Snapchat, Roblox and TikTok. On these platforms, predators often use fake accounts and target minors.
Through deception, sextortionists will convince the victim to produce a sexually explicit video or photo, often after befriending and creating an online friendship or other relationship with them. Once predators acquire a photo or video, they often threaten to release the compromising sexually explicit material unless the victim sends additional sexually explicit material.
Thirty additional victims were found across the United States and internationally, according to PSP. The sextortionist was eventually identified as Alvaro Andres Valarezo Sandoval, 34, who was living in Miami. According to PSP, Valarezo Sandoval is an Ecuadorian national with the assistance of the U.S. Immigrants and Customs Enforcement.
On Jan. 16, an arrest warrant was obtained for Valarezo Sandoval and members of PSP Chambersburg traveled to Florida to arrest him.
According to PSP, Valarezo Sandoval was arrested on Jan. 18 with the help of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, their Special Operations Team (SOT) and the Miami-Dade Police Department.
A search warrant was also executed at Valarezo Sandoval's home, where multiple electronic devices were reportedly seized as evidence.
Valarezo Sandoval was transported to the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department's custody pending his extradition to Pennsylvania where he faces multiple charges, including child pornography, unlawful contact with a minor- sexual abuse of children, corruption of minors and dissemination of explicit sexual material of a minor.
The Pennsylvania State Police is reminding anyone who is sexually exploited that they are the victim and the predator is to blame.
If you or someone you know is sexually exploited, PSP recommends following these guidelines:
- Report the predator’s account via the platform’s safety feature.
- Block the predator and do not delete the profile or messages as it can be helpful to law enforcement in identifying, locating and ultimately stopping them.
- Save all conversations, chats, and messages with the predator.
- Ask for help. This can be a very complex problem and may require help from adults or law enforcement.
- For those who don't feel they have adults in their corner, contact NCMEC for support at gethelp@ncmec.org, or call NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST.
