Coach’s ‘sextortion’ scheme unravels when student figures out who he is, US feds say
After prosecutors say a New Mexico high school coach manipulated a student into sending him nude photos, she isolated herself from friends and family, spent most days in her room and stopped participating in class, court documents show.
At first, she didn’t know that two people she had been communicating with over Snapchat when she was 13 and 14 were the same person – her school’s assistant basketball coach, who was running a “sextortion” scheme with two fake profiles, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico.
“I hated every night from that day forward,” the teen recently testified in federal court, according to court documents. “I would cry myself to sleep because of the disgust I felt towards myself… The longer time went on, the more scared I got.”
“Sextortion” typically involves an adult manipulating a minor into sending explicit photos or videos of themselves – often by posing as a minor to gain a child or teen’s trust before threatening to expose them, McClatchy News previously reported.
The teenager was one of four students Joshua Rico, 27, of Pecos, New Mexico, coerced into sending explicit photos and videos while using fake Snapchat accounts beginning in 2018, according to prosecutors. He coerced at least one of the students to engage “in sexual acts,” prosecutors said.
He was a former coach for the Pecos Independent School District, McClatchy News previously reported.
Eventually, the teen realized that Rico and “Erik Romero,” one of his fake Snapchat profiles, were the same person and told her school and state police – putting an end to his scheme that lasted nearly three years, prosecutors said.
Now, Rico has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after previously pleading guilty to coercion and enticement of minors, the attorney’s office announced in a July 28 news release.
McClatchy News contacted a federal public defender representing Rico for comment on July 30 and didn’t receive an immediate response. McClatchy News also contacted the Pecos Independent School District for comment on July 30 and was awaiting a response
“This sick relationship affected every area of my life…,” the teenager who exposed his scheme, identified only as “Jane Doe 2,” said in a victim impact statement, according to a sentencing memo.
“I stopped hanging out with my friends and I distanced myself from friends and family because I didn’t want people to find out what was going on.”
The scheme
Rico used fake profiles “under the names ‘Chris Lujan’ and ‘Erik Romero’ as well as a profile in his own name to threaten, coerce and manipulate” the four students who were between the ages of 14 and 16, prosecutors said.
In one example involving his first victim, identified only as “Jane Doe 1,” Rico began texting her “sexually charged messages” under his true identity as early as May 2016 up until July 2018, according to the sentencing memo. During this time, she sent him explicit images upon his request, the sentencing memo says.
Over the course of exchanging text messages, the teen, who was 16, was friended by “Chris Lujan” on Snapchat in April 2018, the sentencing memo says.
She was unaware the profile was actually one of Rico’s fake accounts, according to prosecutors.
While pretending to be “Chris Lujan,” Rico revealed he had images she sent Rico and threatened to share the images unless she sent him “sexually explicit material” directly, according to the sentencing memo and Rico’s plea agreement.
One of the “demands was that Jane Doe 1 record a video of herself performing (a sexual act) on someone and send it to (him),” the plea agreement says.
Rico offered to “help” her with the demand and coerced her to engage in a sex act, according to the plea agreement.
In the case of Jane Doe 2, she had communicated with both of Rico’s fake profiles over Snapchat from Feb 1, 2019, to Jan. 23, 2020, according to the sentencing memo.
At first, Rico coerced her into sending him nude photos using his fake “Chris Lujan” profile, the sentencing memo says.
Then, while pretending to be ”Erik Romero,” told the victim he “obtained these photos and began threatening to expose the images if (Jane Doe 2) did not send him additional nude images…,” the sentencing memo says.
She was unaware “Chris” and “Erik” were actually Rico, according to prosecutors.
In January 2020, Rico used the “Erik” profile to tell her to add the account under his real name on Snapchat, according to the sentencing memo.
Then, Rico sent her explicit images from both accounts – resulting in her realising they were the same person, the sentencing memo says.
Afterward, she reported Rico to her school and law enforcement, leading authorities to link Rico to the two fake Snapchat profiles, prosecutors said.
Once Rico is released from prison, he must register as a sex offender, according to the release.
“The successful multi-agency investigation and prosecution by the US Attorney’s Office will keep a dangerous predator out of the school system and will prevent him from targeting additional minors,” Raul Bujanda, FBI special agent in charge of the agency’s Albuquerque field office, said in a statement.
Pecos is about 80 miles northeast of Albuquerque. – The Charlotte Observer/Tribune News Service
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