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A Nicosia district judge handed down a six month prison sentence to a police officer, who used a fake profile on Facebook to obtain naked photos from a female high school student and then blackmailed her.
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Local media reported that a 40-year-old male, described as a Greek Cypriot police officer, pretended to be a 27-year-old woman on social media and used his fake profile to approach a 17-year-old girl.
According to details heard in court, the officer used the name “Evridiki Neokleous” on Facebook and sent a friend request to the teen back in 2014. He then began asking the girl what she was wearing and tried to get photos of her in her underwear.
According to court documents, the girl refused saying she was shy, but the cop was very persuasive, managing to break the ice by sending nude photos of another woman, showing only her naked body but not the face.
The high school student then gave in and sent six photos in which she exposed her bare breasts while wearing panties
The high school student then gave in and sent six topless photos in which she exposed her bare breasts while wearing panties.
After the incident, the girl got wind of the man’s scam and blocked “Evridiki” prompting the police officer to contact a female acquaintance of the teen to relay his threat that he would publish the sexy photos if the 17-year-old did not unblock him on Facebook.
The girl then contacted the man asking him to delete the photos, with the man agreeing only if she would appear live on camera to show him her underwear.
After the student unblocked him but refused to make the video call, the man leaked her nude photos on the internet while covering the face, prompting the girl to file a complaint with the police.
Cyber crime officers then knocked on the man’s door with a search warrant, where investigators later found incriminating evidence on his computer.
“I did it, it was a mistake,” the man told police investigators, with the 40-year-old explaining that he created the fake account for “playing games and vice.”
Badge of dishonour
The judge in the case said the defendant “acted in a deceitful manner” with a plan carefully thought out in order to mislead the minor.
The defendant acted in such a way even though he was a special police officer, the judge said, pointing out that instead of setting up an example for others by acting against such criminal behaviour, he “went out there and did it himself.”
According to local media, the defence said during the hearing on mitigating circumstances that their client, a husband and father of one, only carried out a frivolous act.
The court dismissed the position of the defence, saying the case was very serious and stripped the defendant of his gun permit before sentencing him to six months.
