COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Chicago man pleaded guilty in court Wednesday to cyberstalking, sextortion and identity theft crimes that involved victims in multiple states including Ohio, according to U.S. Attorney Kenneth Parker.
The attorney's office said Omoruyi Uwadiae, 28, admitted to obtaining sexually explicit pictures and videos from potential victims and then using the content to threaten them. Uwadiae threatened to distribute the explicit material widely on the internet and to victims’ friends, family members, employers and others.
Uwadiae demanded money from some victims. From others, he demanded they meet him, have sex with him or make damaging admissions such as saying they were racist.
On multiple occasions, Uwadiae carried through with his threats, sending sexually explicit photographs and videos to the victims’ friends, family members, employers and acquaintances, and posted them on the internet.
Uwadiae targeted young gay men on Grindr and other online sites.
One victim was a student at The Ohio State University who communicated with Uwadiae on Grindr. Uwadiae demanded that the victim either pay him $200 or have sex with him. When the victim did not comply, Uwadiae created false social media accounts using true photos of the victim, stating, “this guy is gay, see pics for evidence.”
The victim had not disclosed his sexual orientation to his family and had told Uwadiae he was concerned that his family would react negatively if they learned he was bisexual.
As part of his plea, Uwadiae pleaded guilty to 22 total counts, including eight counts of cyberstalking, seven counts of making interstate communications with the intent to extort and seven counts of unlawfully using a means of identification.