Spencer Wheeler

AVON — An Avon man admits he blackmailed young girls in Indiana and across the country into sending explicit material through a phone app. A judge has now sentenced him to 36 years in a federal prison. Spencer Wheeler admitted to carrying out one of the biggest sextortion cases in Indiana in a U.S. federal courtroom. It was a sextortion scheme that targeted 20 girls from Indiana to Arizona, and Michigan to Virginia.

Wheeler posed as a female teenager and tricked girls as young as 11 years old into friendships and then risky photos sent through the popular phone app KIK.

“He don’t look nothing like the little girl that was on the phone that he was pretending to be,” the mother of a Michigan victim told 13 Investigates.  She spoke with us, but asked that we not use her name to protect her daughter’s identity.

Wheeler also impersonated a KIK web administrator to get information from the girls — information he later used to blackmail them into producing pornography. Indianapolis Metro Police confiscated hundreds of videos from the Avon home where Wheeler was living at the time. As part of plea deal, federal prosecutors argued for a 50-year prison sentence; effectively a life sentence for the 28-year-old.

“We want people to know that if they’re doing sextortion they’re going to be caught. They’re going to be held accountable. It’s a very serious crime,” explained Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve DeBrota.

Wheeler’s attorney told the court,  “…locking Wheeler up and throwing away the key is not a reasonable solution,” adding, “a life sentence would punish (him) more severely than had he committed a number of violent Indiana state crimes, including…murder, rape, (and) armed robbery.”

Attorney Jeffrey Baldwin went on to say that Wheeler “regrets his conduct…(and) is truly sorry for the harm and loss he has caused.”

Wheeler echoed the same sentiments in court.

“I want to say how remorseful I am to the victims and victims’ families. I know I can never take away the harm and pain I caused them. I would like to request a place where I can get my head on 100% straight, to guarantee this would never happen again,” he said, as members of his family choked back tears.

But Chief Judge Richard Young and the mother of the 14-year old Michigan girl, who first tipped off police to the sextortion, believe Wheeler is only sorry he got caught.

“If we hadn’t reported it, he would still be out doing the same thing,” the mother said.

In handing down a 36-year sentence, Judge Young called Wheeler “sadistic” and noted his actions caused three girls to threaten suicide. One of the girls tried to hang herself. Wheeler repeatedly threatened to expose the victims photos at their schools, to their principals, families and friends.

But Wheeler’s decision to immediately plead guilty and to spare the girls embarrassing court testimony spared him a life sentence and the 50 years recommended. The federal advisory sentence for the 20 cases against Wheeler was actually 516 years based on the ages of the victims and the threats involved. The federal government agreed not to pursue anything near that level.

But the 36-year sentence Spencer Wheeler received means he will be locked up well into his 60s.

Source: WTHR