A warrant has been issued for a local man facing charges relating to online extortion offences after he failed to appear in court last week.
Jeffrey Lance Hughes, 56, of Sundre, was scheduled to appear in Didsbury provincial court on Monday, May 9.
Hughes was charged with the following offences: extortion, distributing intimate images without consent, criminal harassment, voyeurism, two counts of unsafe storage of firearms, and two counts of unauthorized possession of a firearm, said police.
On Monday, Feb. 22 the RCMP received a report about a male who was attempting to extort money from an adult female in Ontario.
“The victim is the one who brought it forward to the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) and then they did their investigation and forwarded it to us,” the Sundre RCMP detachment's Cpl. Joe Mandel previously told the Round Up.
During the course of the investigation, police learned the two individuals had previously been involved in an intimate relationship. During the relationship, the male had surreptitiously video-recorded intimacy the couple had engaged in. At the conclusion of the relationship, Hughes allegedly blackmailed the victim and demanded money in exchange for keeping the videos private, officials said.
On Tuesday, March 8, members of the Sundre RCMP detachment executed a search warrant at the suspect's residence in Sundre.
With a warrant out for his arrest, police will attempt to locate and take Hughes back into custody.
