Bethlehem man pleads guilty to extorting teenage girls for nude photos, videos

A 20-year-old Bethlehem man has pleaded guilty to part of a “sextortion” case where he admitted to blackmailing two teenage girls into sending naked photos and videos through threats of exposure.

Charles Cummings pleaded guilty last week to felony sexual abuse of children - dissemination of child pornography and a theft by extortion, a misdemeanor. The remaining eight charges he faces will be withdrawn as part of a deal struck with the Northampton County District Attorney’s Office.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Tatum Wilson said there is no agreement for sentencing, but the range for the lead charge is as much as four years in prison.

Cummings will have to register as a sex offender for 25 years. His sentencing is slated for May 19 to allow time for authorities to draw up an assessment to determine whether he qualifies as a sexually violent predator.

Wilson said that by virtue of his guilty plea, Cummings is admitting to disseminating between 200 to 500 images of child pornography.

The probe that police to Cummings started in Michigan in July 2019. FBI agents were looking into a “sextortion” case involving a 14-year-old girl and the clues led them to Bethlehem.

Authorities said the victim told police that Cummings convinced her to send nude photos of herself but said if she stopped supplying him with the photos, he’d share them with her friends and family.

When she refused to send him more, he sent several of the photographs to the girl’s classmates. The girl told police that she sent more photos and videos then, frightened that Cummings would continue to follow through on his threats.

Authorities obtained search warrants for the SnapChat and Google accounts being used in the exchange and were able to trace them to a home on Woodstock Drive in Bethlehem, which they searched in August 2019. When interviewed by police, Cummings admitted to contacting the 14-year-old girl in Michigan and said he did so with other teens online.

That’s when police learned about a 17-year-old victim then from Pennsylvania who said Cummings contacted her with her own nude photos via SnapChat. She had never shared the photos and didn’t know how Cummings had them but he told he would spread them around if she didn’t provide more.

This extortion scheme went on for several months, authorities say, and eventually Cummings began demanding money in exchange for not disseminating the images and videos. Throughout the scheme, the teen sent Cummings a total of 127 nude images, numerous videos and $730 to prevent him from sharing the images with her friends and family.

Initially police were concerned that there could be other victims in the case, but Wilson said there have been no additional victims that have come forward yet. Wilson said there are active investigations still ongoing, however, in other jurisdictions.

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