Utah missionary faces sexual extortion charges

                                                                              

A 19-year-old Utah man returned from a religious mission to face felony charges for allegedly threatening underage girls to send him nude photos.

Gabe Ryan Gilbert threatened to send rapists and human traffickers to several girls' homes if they did not comply, according to court documents obtained by the Salt Lake Tribune. 

He was booked into the Salt Lake County jail on Monday, Sgt. Kevin Hunter told USA TODAY, and bailed out the same day. 

Authorities identified more than 50 potential victims of Gilbert's threats, the Tribune reported. Chat logs obtained by authorities through a search warrant showed Gilbert extorting girls on Snapchat, according to the court documents.

'I hope your house has good security," the court documents quote. "I’m sending out your location and username … to as many creeps on the web as I can find.'”

Gilbert faces five counts of aggravated sexual extortion of a child and four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, according to documents filed in Utah's Third District Court.

The investigation into the South Jordan resident began in August 2018, when a 15-year-old girl reported another Snapchat user "threatened to Photoshop images of her face onto nude photos unless she sent real nude pictures of herself," court documents said. Gilbert allegedly told her he would "expose" her if she didn't follow his demands in one minute after she refused, the Tribune reported. 

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Other victims included a 15-year-old girl in December 2017, a 14-year-old girl in June 2018, a 17-year-old girl in June 2018 and a 15-year-old girl in July 2018, the Tribune reported, citing court documents.

Gilbert left for Mexico on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in October 2018, parents told investigators. After the president of his mission interviewed him, Gilbert was sent home, the Tribune reported.

Gilbert's mother refused to tell investigators her son's location in April, court documents said, although state agents knew he was home.