NYCe
02-01-2007, 01:15 AM
Beware who you meet online!
http://www.wnbc.com/news/10888232/detail.html
MINEOLA, N.Y. -- A Long Island couple videotaped and photographed sexual encounters they had with people they met over the Internet and then forced them to pay hush money to prevent the trysts from being revealed to relatives, police said Wednesday.
A preliminary investigation has uncovered two victims -- a man from Long Island and a woman from upstate New York -- but detectives said that based on the large number of videos and photographs they have confiscated, they are confident others have been victimized.
"We have reason to believe that there are multiple potential victims throughout New York state," Detective Lt. Ray Cote said at a press conference at Nassau County police headquarters. He said there could be dozens of others who have yet to contact police.
Click here to find out more!
Both defendants -- Shawn Payne, 34, of East Hampton, and Michael Largue, 45, of Franklin Square -- allegedly met potential victims on an Internet site; Largue would lure an unsuspecting female into a sexual relationship and Payne would do the same with unsuspecting men, police said.
The scheme unraveled on Sunday when a 43-year-old man told police that he had become involved in a relationship and was subsequently being blackmailed to keep quiet. Payne and Largue would alternately secretly record the encounters involving their respective companions, police said.
"Unbeknownst to our victim, he was videotaped and photographed in compromising sexual positions," Cote said.
A subsequent investigation found a 47-year-old woman from upstate New York -- police declined to be more specific about her whereabouts -- had also been victimized by the couple. In the woman's case, Largue allegedly presented himself as a financial adviser and eventually cajoled her into giving him $51,000.
Payne was arraigned Tuesday on charges of grand larceny, promoting prostitution, and scheming to defraud, and was ordered held on $20,000 bond. She was represented by an attorney from Legal Aid, who did not return a telephone call seeking comment. Police said Payne was still in custody Wednesday and had not posted bond.
Largue was arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead Wednesday on a charge of grand larceny and ordered held on $100,000 bond, said a spokeswoman for District Attorney Kathleen Rice. He also was represented by a Legal Aid attorney.
Both of their alleged victims were in the midst of divorce proceedings -- a fact that Payne and Largue seized upon to pressure the victims into paying, police said.
Largue held such sway over the upstate woman, police said, that he eventually convinced her to engage in acts of prostitution. He declined to elaborate.
Police said the sexual encounters between the victims and the two defendants took place at undisclosed locations in both Nassau and Suffolk counties.
http://www.wnbc.com/news/10888232/detail.html
MINEOLA, N.Y. -- A Long Island couple videotaped and photographed sexual encounters they had with people they met over the Internet and then forced them to pay hush money to prevent the trysts from being revealed to relatives, police said Wednesday.
A preliminary investigation has uncovered two victims -- a man from Long Island and a woman from upstate New York -- but detectives said that based on the large number of videos and photographs they have confiscated, they are confident others have been victimized.
"We have reason to believe that there are multiple potential victims throughout New York state," Detective Lt. Ray Cote said at a press conference at Nassau County police headquarters. He said there could be dozens of others who have yet to contact police.
Click here to find out more!
Both defendants -- Shawn Payne, 34, of East Hampton, and Michael Largue, 45, of Franklin Square -- allegedly met potential victims on an Internet site; Largue would lure an unsuspecting female into a sexual relationship and Payne would do the same with unsuspecting men, police said.
The scheme unraveled on Sunday when a 43-year-old man told police that he had become involved in a relationship and was subsequently being blackmailed to keep quiet. Payne and Largue would alternately secretly record the encounters involving their respective companions, police said.
"Unbeknownst to our victim, he was videotaped and photographed in compromising sexual positions," Cote said.
A subsequent investigation found a 47-year-old woman from upstate New York -- police declined to be more specific about her whereabouts -- had also been victimized by the couple. In the woman's case, Largue allegedly presented himself as a financial adviser and eventually cajoled her into giving him $51,000.
Payne was arraigned Tuesday on charges of grand larceny, promoting prostitution, and scheming to defraud, and was ordered held on $20,000 bond. She was represented by an attorney from Legal Aid, who did not return a telephone call seeking comment. Police said Payne was still in custody Wednesday and had not posted bond.
Largue was arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead Wednesday on a charge of grand larceny and ordered held on $100,000 bond, said a spokeswoman for District Attorney Kathleen Rice. He also was represented by a Legal Aid attorney.
Both of their alleged victims were in the midst of divorce proceedings -- a fact that Payne and Largue seized upon to pressure the victims into paying, police said.
Largue held such sway over the upstate woman, police said, that he eventually convinced her to engage in acts of prostitution. He declined to elaborate.
Police said the sexual encounters between the victims and the two defendants took place at undisclosed locations in both Nassau and Suffolk counties.