A Battle Ground man appeared in court Monday after allegedly creating several anonymous social media accounts to coerce a 15-year-old girl into sending sexually explicit photos of herself.
Morgan Chase Wrightson, 18, appeared in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of cyberstalking, sexual exploitation of a minor and possessing depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, according to court records. He was granted supervised release by Judge Scott Collier.
On Dec. 30, a Clark County sheriff’s deputy responded to a report of a teenage girl who had received an anonymous Instagram message with a sexually explicit image she had taken of herself, according to an affidavit of probable cause. The messenger threatened to post similar photos and videos of the girl on the internet if she did not send additional photos, the affidavit said. A message also demanded she meet a group of men for sex, the affidavit said.
Over a few days, the girl received extortive messages from at least five anonymous accounts, according to the affidavit. All of them appeared to be created by the same person, who mentioned he had to keep changing account names as the girl kept reporting them and they were shut down, the affidavit said.
“As the days and text strings went on, the threats and demands got stronger and more severe,” the affidavit reads.
The messenger knew personal details about the girl, including her home address and where she goes to school, according to the affidavit. The girl told police that Wrightson was the only person to whom she had sent such photos, but she did not believe he would have distributed them, the affidavit said.
When the girl informed Wrightson multiple times about the disturbing, anonymous messages, he repeatedly encouraged her to comply with the demands, according to the affidavit. He explained to her that they both would be in trouble if the photos were publicized.
Further investigation revealed that two other girls had been subjected to similar exploitation, according to the affidavit. The mother of one of the girls filed for a restraining order against Wrightson. The two girls described him as manipulative and sexually deviant, the affidavit said.
Sexually explicit images of the girls were posted on multiple social media accounts linked to Wrightson, according to the affidavit.
In an interview deputies Friday, Wrightson admitted to creating the fake accounts to sexually manipulate the girls, according to the affidavit. Wrightson was arrested shortly after the interview and taken to the Clark County Jail. He is scheduled for arraignment April 12.
