‘I want to be your child molester’ — Predator extorted NJ teen into meeting, FBI says
A man who blackmailed a teenage girl to meet him for sex at a South Jersey hotel was met by law enforcement when he arrived for a second meeting at the same place.
Zachary Williams, 33, of New York City, met the girl on Snapchat, lied about his age as being 17 and convinced her to send nude photographs of herself, according to Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Rachael A. Honig.
Once the photos were received, Honig said Williams extorted the girl by threatening to send the photos to her friends and family unless she met him at a Galloway hotel where she could delete the photos.
She went along and had unprotected sex with Williams in October, according to Honig, who said he made the girl take the emergency contraceptive Plan B afterward.
Even though Williams allowed the girl to delete the photos on his phone, he sent her harassing messages from several other accounts as she blocked him, according to Honig. Williams continued to threaten to share the nude pictures.
The criminal complaint quotes the sexually perverse messages he is accused of sending her.
"I don't want to be exposed," the victim told an Instagram user that investigators said was Williams.
"All I want is to continue to be your child molester," the user replied.
"When r u going to come down then," she asked.
Law enforcement took over the girl's social media accounts and communicated with Williams posing as her, Honig said. Using the girl's account, FBI agents continued to talk to the user, bringing up subjects such as having been in an argument with her mother, celebrating her birthday, missing her friends, and self-esteem. But the user that authorities identified as Williams always brought the conversations back to sordid and sexually explicit talk.
"And can't wait to child molest you," he said in a typical exchange.
Williams arranged for a second meet up at the same hotel where he was met by law enforcement as he arrived.
Williams is charged with interstate travel to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor and was scheduled to appear before a judge on Tuesday.
Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ