Florida Predator Exploited Teenagers Online For Nude Pictures

[From article]
Federal authorities are crediting the bravery of an exploited 14-year-old girl with uncovering a nationwide “sextortion” scheme involving hundreds of underage victims — including four from the Bay State — and are urging anyone else who may have been preyed on to come forward.
“The goal is not to just look at this case, it’s to make parents aware that if it is also happening to somebody else, there might be other predators out there that we need to put in jail,” said Peter F. Kowenhoven, an assistant special agent in charge in the FBI’s Boston office, adding that before Ashley Reynolds’ parents called the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), investigators “didn’t have a case” against the man who terrorized her.
“We weren’t aware that this individual was involved in these sextortions,” Kowenhoven said. “What happened was the parents were able to access her online account ... approached her and said, ‘What is going on here?’ ”
With the help of the NCMEC, Kowenhoven said investigators were able to track the threatening emails Reynolds was receiving to an IP address in Jacksonville, Fla., and ultimately to the home of Lucas M. Chansler, 31.
His massive online “sextortion” scheme entailed relentlessly preying on Reynolds and others for sexually explicit photos by threatening to send nude pictures of them to their family and friends. Chansler has since been sentenced to 105 years in prison.
Now authorities are turning to the public for help identifying his remaining 241 victims.
[. . .]
Anyone with information that may help identify other Chansler victims is encouraged to call the FBI’s Boston Division at 617-742-5533 or send a confidential email to 

fbi.victimassistance (at) ic.fbi.gov
http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2015/07/sextortion_drama_teen_broke_open_nationwide_scheme

‘Sextortion’ drama: Teen broke open nationwide scheme
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
By: Owen Boss
Boston Herald