Man charged with child pornography in Clinton County sextortion case

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - A 21-year-old man from Florida is facing multiple charges in connection with a Michigan sextortion case.

Brandon Huu Le is accused of using Snapchat to contact a 13-year-old Clinton County girl, where he allegedly brought up sexual topics, took a screenshot of the conversation and threatened to post them with the victim’s name if she did not provide him with sexually explicit photos and materials.

Authorities said the incident happened in August 2019.

Le was charged with coercion and enticement of a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor and receipt of child pornography. The full indictment can be read below.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office and FBI believe there are other victims nationwide.

“Based on the FBI’s investigation in this case, we believe that Mr. Le may have contacted a significant number of other people across the nation using Snapchat - as we allege he did in this case - and other online platforms attempting to do the same things as we allege he did here,” said Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Mark Totten.

Authorities said Le used the name Ty and used the following screen names on Omegle and Snapchat.

• addityyt
• tyaddinude
• tyaddibaby
• tycroneaddi
• tygrazittenudef

The investigation is ongoing. If you believe you are a victim in the case, contact the Department of Justice or contact Victim Coordinator Kathy Schuette by phone at 616-808-2034 or kathy.schuette@usdoj.gov.

The FBI released the following tips on how people can protect themselves from sextortion schemes:

1. Be selective about what you share online. If your social media accounts are open to everyone, a predator may be able to figure out a lot of information about you.
2. Be wary of anyone you encounter for the first time online. Block or ignore messages from strangers.
3. Be aware that people can pretend to be anything or anyone online. Videos and photos are not proof that people are who they claim to be. Images can be altered or stolen. In some cases, predators have even taken over the social media accounts of their victims.
4. Be suspicious if you meet someone on one game or app and this person asks you to start talking on a different platform.
5. Be in the know. Any content you create online—whether it is a text message, photo, or video—can be made public. And nothing actually “disappears” online. Once you send something, you don’t have any control over where it goes next.
6. Be willing to ask for help. If you are getting messages or requests online that don’t seem right, block the sender, report the behavior to the site administrator, or go to an adult. If you have been victimized online, tell someone.

More information on sextortion can be found on the FBI’s website.

Related:

• FBI and local law enforcement to educate parents about online threats targeting students
• Law enforcement warns parents about increase in reported sextortion cases of teens
• Michigan State University police aims to protect students from ‘sextortion’

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