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LEHI — A Salt Lake man who allegedly told police he does not handle rejection well has been charged with stalking and extorting a Utah County woman.
The 37-year-old man was charged Friday in 4th District Court with sexual extortion, a third-degree felony, and stalking, a class A misdemeanor.
The man met the woman in 2018 on a dating website. "Eventually, the defendant offered the victim money in exchange for sex," according to charging documents.
The woman blocked the man. But according to the charges, "In the ensuing years, defendant used eight different phone numbers and pretended to be several different people in contacting the victim." The woman told the man several times to stop contacting her and blocked several of his numbers, police say.
In 2021, the woman sent explicit photos of herself to the suspect while he was pretending to be someone else and was using a different phone number, police say. In January, he threatened to send her photos to her co-workers unless she agreed to have sex with him, charging documents state.
After what prosecutors call an "extensive investigation," Lehi police were able to identify the man and question him at his work.
"(He) stated that he did it because he was hurt by the victim's rejection and he promised himself it wouldn't happen again. Asked why he specifically targeted the victim, the defendant stated that he does not do well with rejection and this was his way of lashing out," the charges state. "He also admitted that he was the person who offered to send the victim to Disneyland and offered her $500 a week for sex."
