Woodbury man gets 30 years in federal prison for extorting minors after coercing sexually explicit videos

A Woodbury man was sentenced to years in federal prison Wednesday for extorting teenage girls he met on social media to send him sexually explicit photos and videos Timothy Lennard Gebhart admitted in July to coercing two girls ages and to engage in sexually explicit conduct through video chat which he recorded He then sent the videos and photos to other minors in an attempt to get more Timothy Lennard Gebhart Courtesy of the Sherburne County Sheriff's Office Prosecutors revealed Gebhart executed the sextortion scheme between July and September while using aliases and posing as someone younger including as a teenager He extorted money and other items of value from the -year-old by threatening to send the videos to her family friends and classmates The girls are among six casualties from Minnesota Texas Indiana and elsewhere who administration were able to identify in Gebhart s scheme according to prosecutors Additional sufferers have not been identified The scheme continued for more than two years and didn t stop until the police stopped him Assistant U S Attorney David Classen explained in his sentencing argument before Judge Jerry Blackwell in U S District Court in St Paul Classen called Gebhart s crimes harmful and cruel to the extreme These are the crimes that shatter childhoods and ruin lives Classen declared adding research shows casualties go on to struggle with a lifetime of anxiety and fear of physical contact Gebhart pleaded guilty in March to all four charges in the June indictment two counts of child pornography production and one count each of child pornography distribution and interstate communication with the intent to extort The prosecution sought the -year term while Gebhart s attorney sought for a mandatory minimum -year sentence Gebhart will be on intensive supervised release for years following incarceration Intimidation blackmail According to court documents Gebhart used Instagram and Snapchat to find his casualties He convinced them to send photos and videos of themselves engaged in sexually explicit conduct sometimes in exchange for money Gebhart then targeted the casualties social media contacts to find more casualties to exploit prosecutors declared He mentioned his relationships with the new casualties to gain their trust Gebhart knew the ages of his casualties because they either reported him or it was apparent from their social media profiles prosecutors noted After receiving videos and photos Gebhart turned to intimidation and blackmail to receive more the indictment revealed He recounted one victim in a November message that if she didn t call him in one hour he would ruin your expletive day Wonder what your family will think of those pics I have of you Gebhart also sent his casualties graphic and explicit videos of suicides and violent murders to coerce and intimidate the minor casualties the indictment read Gebhart declined to address the court before hearing his sentence Reports rising Sextortion is a growing issue according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Every day last year the organization received nearly reports of financial sextortion which involves a predator demanding money for keeping sexual images private Gebhart s incident was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood a nationwide initiative launched in by the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse For more information about Project Safe Childhood go to justice gov psc Related Articles Man admits to fatally stabbing St Paul woman believing she was his mother White Bear Lake man sentenced for killing infant son while blackout drunk plead guilty to Roseville Lululemon thefts in multi-state crime spree that allegedly netted M Maplewood man admits in court to kidnapping and rape attempt I look for her every day mother of slain Fridley teen declared at killer s sentencing