EAST OTTO, N.Y. - An 18 year old student is charged with sending unwanted and threatening text messages to young female victims in Cattaraugus County.
New York State Troopers say Joseph W. Bach of East Otto used the social website Facebook to get the phone numbers of 16 to 19 year old female victims.
Bach then allegedly would send text messages to the victims claiming to be a female they knew or an unknown young man. He would then request that they send inappropriate pictures of themselves to his phone. If they refused, Bach would threaten to post inappropriate pictures of them on Facebook.
Officials say the messages went out to victims in the Dayton, Gowanda, Machias, and Otto areas. One female victim alerted Troopers of a text she received on December 18th and officials were able to send a "ping" to the phone the texts were sent from determining its location.
The "ping" led officials to the Sky Ranch Road area and to Bach. On December 19th, Troopers questioned Bach and he was subsequently charged and processed.
Bach is facing charges of Criminal Impersonation, 2nd Degree Aggravated Harassment, and 3rd Degree Stalking. He faces court appearances in the towns of Dayton, Persia, and Otto.
WGRZ