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By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A hearing to decide whether a Chehalis teenager’s felony case will be moved to adult court for alleged extortion in sexting activities has been postponed until next month.
The boy, now 16, was taken into custody last month after being summonsed to Lewis County Juvenile Court.
The investigation began a year ago, after a 16-year-old Chehalis boy revealed he had been communicating online with someone he thought was a 19-year-old woman, who shared images and a video of herself unclothed and in exchange, he shared similar-type images and a video of himself back, according to court documents.
The supposed 19-year-old woman then wanted more pornographic images of the 16-year-old and threatened to share what she already had with all his friends and family, the documents relate. When the victim refused, some of the pictures were sent to the 16-year-old’s younger brother and also a girl at W.F. West High School, according to the documents.
The investigation which began with the FBI and continued starting last November with a detective from the Chehalis Police Department led to a suspect, a 15-year-old Chehalis boy allegedly posing as the 19-year-old woman, according to court documents.
The teenagers had been using Instagram and Snapchat.
When the 15-year-old was interviewed, he allegedly admitted “extorting” sexually explicit photos from more than 30 people, according to the allegations.
Charges were filed against the suspect, now 16, on Sept. 25 of this year. He was charged in Lewis County Juvenile Court with one count each of second-degree extortion, first-degree possession of depictions of minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct and first-degree dealing in depictions of minor engaged in sexually explicit.
When he went to court on Oct. 10, a judge ordered him into the custody of the Lewis County Juvenile Justice Center. On the same day, Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer filed a motion for a declination hearing, to determine whether the court should decline to exercise juvenile court jurisdiction and instead transfer the case to Lewis County Superior Court where he would be handled as an adult.
The suspect is represented by a retained attorney, Jonathan Feste with the Law Offices of Benjamin and Healy in Bellevue, according to a notice filed the following day.
The so-called decline hearing was scheduled for yesterday, but both parties requested it be moved to Nov. 29 at 1:15 p.m., according to court documents.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter