Hawaii man pleads guilty to sextortion of 14-year-old girl from Missouri

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - A Hawaii man on Thursday pleaded guilty to the sextortion of a 14-year-old girl from Missouri.

Federal officials say between December 2021 and January 2022, 33-year-old Gerardo Javier Montes posed online as a 21-year-old man and convinced the teen to send nude photos.

When the teen tried to cut off contact with Montes, he threatened to release the photos on social media and “every school in the state,” officials said.

After receiving a tip, the FBI traced the suspect to Hawaii and performed a court-approved search of his home and seized electronic devices that contained child sex abuse material.

As part of his plea, Montes also admitted to trading child pornography online, including images of former girlfriends when they were minors and other child victims.

Montes is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 15, where he’ll face a maximum of 20 years in prison.