Franklin County Man Arrested for Sexual Social Media Extortion

An Eltopia man is in the Benton County jail after authorities arrested him on allegations he was using a videotaped sexual encounter to extort money from a woman.

29-year-old Jose Olivia Jr. was taken into custody Wednesday at a home on Fir Road in Eltopia on First Degree Extortion Charges.

Franklin County officials said Olivia Jr. had been dating a 37-year-old Kennewick woman, and he reportedly recorded a sexual encounter he had with her without her knowledge or permission. She reportedly terminated the relationship sometime later.

He then hacked into her social media accounts, including Facebook, and changed her profile picture to a still image from the recording. He attempted to extort money from her in exchange for him removing the image. He had changed the passwords so she could not access her social media accounts.

Authorities say this is a good example of how people need to be careful with not only social media, but take precautions to safeguard such accounts so others cannot hack or break into them.

It is believed to be one of the few such cases reported and prosecuted in Benton or Franklin Counties.