East Bay men accused of extorting underage victims for explicit content charged
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - San Francisco police and federal authorities have arrested a pair of men they say targeted underage girls, extorting them, demanding sexually explicit videos and photos. Police say there are more victims out there.
San Francisco police say their investigation started in the fall of 2019 when an administrator at a school in the city reported that a number of students had been bullied and blackmailed into sending sexually explicit photos and videos via social media.
"This wasn't a one time or one day deal," said Adam Lobsinger from the San Francisco Police Department. "They would torture some of these children over the span of months."
Police say 21-year-old Delaney Tang of Oakland used dozens of social media accounts similar to this one and reached out to dozens of underage victims ranging in age from 11 to 14.
Investigators say he enlisted the aid of 20-year-old Vincenz Sison from Concord.
Police say the men would threaten or extort the victims into sending explicit photos.
"My daughter, she's been completely changed by this situation," said the father of one of the girls targeted in this investigation.
That father has a warning for other families.
"My wife and myself, we never thought this would happen to us, ever. We thought we were being vigilant enough and we really want other parents to be alert to what their kids are doing," he said.
Police say they have found victims from around the Bay Area, Northern California, and as far away as Utah. And after searching the homes of the suspects, police say they found evidence their work is not done yet.
"When we served those search warrants we did discover several items of evidence that did link them to this crime and many other ones," said Lobsinger. "So, what that tell our investigators is that there are other victims out there."
The father of that victim says he's speaking out to make sure other families don't have to go through what his family has had to endure.
His advice to parents: "Trust but verify. Familiarize yourself with who your children are talking to familiarize yourself with those screen names."
San Francisco police released some of the screen names they say the suspects used, hoping that families would be able to look at that list and see if the suspects contacted anyone else. The screen names include thedrunkg1raffe, jimmynguyen0950, anthonytran800, bobbychao5150, davidnguyen850, kevin_luong5150, brianchao0150, and delaneyytang.
Investigators are working to identify at least 13 unidentified victims.