Man charged in extortion case posed as Tennessee DB on Snapchat
A man who allegedly impersonated Tennessee defensive back Cameron Sutton on the social media application Snapchat was arrested Wednesday.
The man, 22-year-old Brandon Douglas Shanahan of Sweetwater, Tenn., was charged with extortion. He pled not guilty Wednesday and was released on bond. According to the Washington Post, Shanahan, who used the username “Camsutton2323” to pose as Sutton (who wears No. 23), “threatened to share nude photos” of a woman “unless she took more pictures and sent them to him.”
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The woman told authorities she had been communicating with the person she believed to be Sutton on Snapchat for several weeks and that the person sent her a photo April 9 “showing an African American man’s torso with a large tattoo wrapped around the rib cage.”
An investigation revealed that Sutton “was a victim of criminal impersonation” and had “not conversed with the victim via Snapchat or any other method of communication.” Investigators concluded Sutton, a three-year starter for the Vols, “had no knowledge of Shanahan’s impersonation of him.”
The victim (identified in documents as C.C.) told investigators that communication between the two initially came mostly from “Camsutton2323,” but she later decided to “give him a chance,” and shared her phone number.
Things quickly took a turn after a night out. From the Washington Post:
That Saturday night, she told investigators, she went out to a bar and got “very drunk” — snapping pictures of herself and of the bar and then sharing them on her “Snapchat story,” a live feed where users post photos and videos for their followers to see. The woman told the FBI that later that night, “all I remember is taking off my clothes and getting into bed,” according to the court documents.
The next morning, C.C. told authorities, “Camsutton2323″ told her she had taken nude photos of herself while she was drunk and sent them to him, according to court documents. Although the woman said she did not believe she had done so, she had no way of knowing for certain: After a photo is viewed on Snapchat, it is erased within a few seconds.
The woman told authorities he said he would post the photos on social media unless she took more nude photos and sent them to him.
From that point on, the woman said she began receiving threatening phone calls from a man using a blocked number. The FBI was able to trace the calls to Shanahan.
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Law enforcement officials believe Shanahan, who faces up to two years in prison, could have “numerous” other female victims.
A Tennessee athletics spokesperson told the Post that the school is “aware of the investigation and very appreciative of the work law enforcement did in this matter.”
For more Tennessee news, visit VolQuest.com.
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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
