Polk County Sheriff’s deputies, assisting the Illinois State Police, arrested a Davenport man on Wednesday, March 3, 2021, for extortion, among other felonies.
According to his affidavit, 19-year-old Antonio Luis Medina of Daniel Drive in Davenport, met the female victim online three years ago on Discord. During their online conversations, Medina convinced the girl to send him nude images of herself. The demands for pornographic images and videos increased in frequency and intensity, with Medina becoming more controlling and sexually explicit. Eventually the victim became distraught and ended the online relationship.
Shortly thereafter, the victim received an Instagram friend request from an unknown person (later determined to be Medina) who began sending her direct messages. Medina, while hiding his true identity, began an ongoing campaign of extortion, threatening to send nude images of the victim to her friends and family members if she didn’t comply with his demands to send new images. The victim refused, and Medina sent some images to the victim’s brother and a friend, at which time the victim realized the Instagram profile likely belonged to Medina.
The victim then alerted her parents, who contacted the Illinois State Police, where they live. Through investigative means, the ISP identified the sextortionist as someone living in Davenport, Florida. They requested the assistance of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, and Computer Crimes detectives were assigned to the case.
When detectives searched Medina’s apartment, they seized his cell phone for a forensic examination. His email addresses and Instagram account matched the evidence collected from the victim. Medina admitted to the online relationship and the sharing of nude photos and videos. He was taken into custody without incident and charged with:
Directing/promoting sexual performance of a child (F2) ($15,000 bond)
Extortion or threats (F2) ($15,000 bond)
Use of a computer to seduce a child (F3) ($15,000 bond)
Transmission of material harmful to a minor (F3) ($1,000 bond)
“This predator is a textbook example of why it’s so important for parents to be involved in their children’s online activities,” said Sheriff Grady Judd. “This poor child was groomed, and then subjected to pornography, extortion, and mental and emotional abuse. We’re hopeful she will be able to recover from this trauma, and that this predator goes to prison for what he’s done.”
