Watertown Man Blackmails Teen for Nude Photos: Police

A Watertown man is accused of blackmailing a 13-year-old girl so she would send him topless photos of herself online, police said. 

Jermaine Williams, 34, faces two charges of risk of injury to a minor after an investigation found he had been asking his friend's daughter for "sexy" photos on multiple occasions last year, according to court documents.

Williams won't be charged with possession of child pornography because the statute of limitations ran out for coercion, police said. 

Last year, Williams, who is a friend of the victim's mother and grandmother, reached out to the underage victim over Facebook Messenger asking her for pictures of herself in "bra and panties," according to documents. 

When the then 13-year-old declined Williams, he told the victim he would tell her family about her sexual relationship with a boy in her middle school, police said. 

The girl said she was afraid of Williams' threats and sent him risque photos of herself to the suspect. On some occasions, Williams even offered the victim money in exchange for photos, however, it does not appear like any fiscal transaction was executed, Watertown Police said. 

An investigation started when a friend of accused went to police on May 16 of this year and told them Williams had shown him photos of the girl and admitted to blackmailing her for them, court documents said. 

Williams told officers that interviewed him that he did not threaten the girl and she voluntarily sent him photos. He said he saved the photos in order to show her family and let them "know what was going on," police documents said. 

However, messages recovered on Facebook allegedly shows Williams asking and threatening the victim. 

It is not clear if Williams obtained an attorney. 

Matt Austin 

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