N.S. teen accused of threatening girl, posting nude photos on Facebook

A 17-year-old boy has been accused of threatening a female friend and then sharing nude photos of her on Facebook.

The 16-year-old girl contacted Halifax police in November 2012 after she received a threatening demand on her Facebook account from someone she didn’t know.

Police say the suspect demanded that she provide naked pictures of herself or he would post private pictures of her that were in his possession.

When she refused, police say the suspect distributed nude photos of her to other people on Facebook.

“What we were able to determine is that several Facebook accounts were used, all of them being fictitious,” says Const. Pierre Bourdages of the Halifax Regional Police.

“As well, the suspect is known to the victim.”

Police say the investigation culminated on Thursday with the execution of a search warrant at a Halifax home. Officers seized computer equipment from the home and arrested a 17-year-old boy without incident.

Investigators say it took a year to make an arrest in the case because they had to issue search warrants and gain access to social media accounts run by companies in the U.S.

The suspect has been released from custody on conditions not to access the internet.

He is due to appear in Halifax provincial youth court on Dec. 5 to face charges of extortion, distributing child pornography, possession of child pornography and mischief.

The news comes a day after 10 boys in Quebec appeared in court to defend accusations of trading nude photos of their girlfriends as if they were hockey cards.

“It can end up anywhere on the internet, on 20,000 people’s phones,” warns Halifax student Michael Daurie. “It’s definitely a cautionary tale with all the cases that have been coming out.”

Roger Merrick, who is with Nova Scotia’s Cyber Scan Unit, says people are re-victimized every time a private photo is shared.

“Society can’t tolerate this type of behavior,” says Merrick. “Picturing yourself as someone who has that picture on the internet, knowing that it is never going to go away, knowing that other people can use it for whatever they see fit. That is dangerous and very harmful to people.”

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kelland Sundahl