St. Paul Man Faces Federal Charges For Allegedly Sextorting Hundreds Of Girls

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Twin Cities man is facing federal charges for allegedly sextorting more than 500 girls across the nation.

The U.S. Attorney's Office District of Minnesota says that 31-year-old Yue Vang, of St. Paul, is charged with two counts of producing child pornography, one count of possessing child pornography, and one count of interstate communications with intent to extort.

According to prosecutors, Yang sextorted hundreds of girls over the last five years, using social media platforms such as Snapchat, Kik and Skype.

He allegedly created fake female personas to meet girls over the internet, enticed them to record sexually explicit videos of themselves, and threatened to send those videos to family and friends unless the girls sent him more sexually explicit content.

In one 2016 case, Vang threated to ruin a 15-year-old girl's life by sending pornographic videos to her classmates and parents unless she complied with his demands for more sexual videos.

Prosecutors say that at least 500 girls have been identified as victims, and investigators believe their could be more. Anyone who believes they are or might know a victim is asked to contact federal investigators via this website.

Vang has yet to appear in federal court. If convicted on a child pornography charge, he faces a minimum statutory penalty of 15 years in prison.