Chicago man sentenced for sextortion of Ohio State student

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A Chicago man has been sentenced to prison for sextorting young gay and bisexual men through dating apps, including an Ohio State University student.

Omoruyi Uwadiae, 29, was sentenced Tuesday in federal court to more than four years in prison after he pleaded guilty in May to harassing, cyberstalking, extorting and stealing the identities of victims in multiple states, including Ohio, Colorado and Washington.

Uwadiae obtained sexually explicit photos and videos from potential victims and then used the content to threaten them, according to U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Kenneth Parker. The 29-year-old then threatened to distribute the material widely on the internet and to victims' friends, family members, employers and others.

The defendant targeted gay and bisexual men on Grindr and other online dating platforms, demanding money, ordering them to have sex with him, and asking them to make "damaging admissions." Parker said multiple victims had not publicly disclosed their sexual orientation, which Uwadiae's actions disclosed contrary to their wishes.

In some cases, Uwadiae posted victims' nude images on Male General, a blog marketed to gay men, and other websites without their consent and then demanded money or other things of value to take down the images.

One victim was an Ohio State University student who communicated with Uwadiae on Grindr. Uwadiae ultimately demanded that the victim either pay him $200 or have sex with him. When the victim did not comply, Uwadiae created false social media accounts using photos of the victim, stating, "this guy is gay, see pics for evidence."

The victim had not disclosed his sexual orientation to his family and had told Uwadiae he was concerned that his family would react negatively if they learned he was bisexual.

Another victim was a minor but he told Uwadiae that he was 18 years old when he was 17. After Uwadiae began distributing explicit images of the victim, members of the victim's family told Uwadiae that he was 17. Even then, he continued to distribute sexually explicit images of the victim, sending them to the victim's mother and others and creating a public Facebook page with the images.

Uwadiae was charged in April with 22 total counts, including cyberstalking, making interstate communications with the intent to extort and seven counts of unlawfully using a means of identification.