A San Diego man who posed as a modeling agent to lure women to take nude photographs and then threatened to share the photos online if they didn’t perform sex acts pleaded guilty in court, San Diego County prosecutors said Wednesday.
Maverick Mendez Rosales, 24, pleaded guilty to felony charges of oral copulation, sexual battery and human trafficking of a minor. Rosales was initially charged with extortion, two counts of oral copulation by duress, one count of rape by duress and sexual battery, to which he pleaded not guilty. However, some of those charges were dropped in exchange for his guilty plea in the plea deal.
Rosales was accused of running a fictitious modeling agency for years.
He had two young women pose for photos – and then later threatened to release the photos on the Internet or to the women’s families if they didn’t perform sex acts or pay him money, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Rosales solicited the women using sites such as Craigslist and Facebook. One of the women was extorted for her nude photos for two years, said Doyle.
He is expected to be sentenced to 11 years and four months in prison on Feb. 11, Doyle said.
