Warren County prosecutors have filed charges related to a 2018 investigation of harassment through the Instagram social media app.
Instagram is a website and smart phone application that allows users to share photos and videos.
In February 2018, Warren County Sheriff’s Department was alerted to sexual harassment of a local 14-year-old girl through the app, according to a court filing.
The suspect, identified as Kelton G. Ford, 29, of Cerro Gordo, N.C., allegedly solicited topless photos from the girl.
The victim told investigators that Ford contacted her through Instagram and that she did not know him. He allegedly offered to pay her $500 for a partially nude photo.
When the girl refused, investigators said Ford threatened to tell her parents and friends that she was having sex, doing drugs and sending nude photos unless she did what he asked. The girl told her mother about the harassment and they contacted authorities.
A search warrant obtained for Ford’s Instagram account revealed that he had offered payments or threats in multiple attempts to obtain nude photos from children,  some as young as 11, the sheriff’s department said.
Ford is now wanted for charges of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor and first-degree harassment, both of which are felony charges.
The Missouri and North Carolina sex offender registries do not show any prior convictions for Ford.