GRANDE PRAIRIE, Alta. — Mounties are looking for victims of a man who allegedly extorted hundreds of thousands of dollars from ex-girlfriends by threatening to publish intimate photos online.
RCMP say the man used Internet dating sites to lure women throughout Alberta and became romantically involved with them.
He then took intimate photos of them and threatened to post them on social networking sites unless they paid him, police said.
The man allegedly extorted between $10,000 and $300,000 from each victim. Police believe more victims are out there who have not yet come forward.
"We'd be naive to assume there's not more victims out there, and for shame or whatever reason they're not coming forward," said Cpl. Colette Zazulak of the RCMP. “We would like to talk to anyone who has encountered him and take statements."
Police said their chief suspect was nabbed on an unrelated matter in Waterloo, Ont. last Tuesday. Mounties began investigating the extortion claims last April after a woman filed a complaint to Grande Prairie RCMP, claiming she had been physically abused and threatened.
The woman said the suspect took her for $300,000.
There have been five complainants so far.
"It depends on means. Some of the victims just don't have a lot of money," said Zazulak. "One I spoke with has had a lot of utilities cut off because she can't make her payments. Everything went to him. It wasn't a lot of money, but when you don't have much coming in (it is). "I think he preferred those with a lot of money, but he wasn't too choosy that way."
Zazulak said this was one of the biggest extortion cases she has encountered.
"This is something where he's exploiting vulnerable women," she said. "They're going to be dealing with the repercussions of this for a long time ... emotionally, physically and financially. This is abuse in all realms, and it is huge."
Shannon Brandford Dixon, 33, is facing more than 22 charges, including extortion, fraud, sexual assault, assault, and uttering threats. He's also charged with bestiality and injuring or endangering animals.
Police say the man also uses the name Shannon Mercer. They're asking women to file statements with their local police departments if they've been victimized.
Dixon is expected to make his first court appearance March 29.
Grande Prairie is located 460 km northwest of Edmonton.
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