Teenager Gets 15 Years for Facebook Sex Scam

A Wisconsin teenager has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for a Facebook sex scam that enabled him to sexually abuse seven of his male classmates.

The Associated Press reports that 19-year-old Anthony Stancl was accused of creating a fake Facebook profile purporting to be a teenage girl. During the period between spring of 2007 and November of 2008, Stancl used the profile to convince more than 30 of his male classmates to send him nude photos or videos. Police found more than 300 photos on Stancl's computer. Some of the photos depicted boys as young as fifteen years old.

Mr Stancl is said to have blackmailed the classmates involved by threatening to post the videos and pictures online if they did not engage in some sort of sexual activity with him. CNet cites an older AP report, which states that at least seven of the boys in Stancl's class have said they were coerced into performing sexual acts. Mr Stancl is alleged to have recorded these acts with his cell phone.

Stancl pleaded no contest to two felonies, including repeated sexual assault of a child. The AP reports that he showed no emotion when his sentence was handed down but that he apologized, saying he had learned to understand what his victims went through. He faced a maximum of 30 years in jail.