Apex student blackmailed 12-year-old girl to send nude photos

Police in Salem, Va., received a report on July 7 from the parents of the 12-year-old girl, who said their daughter had been blackmailed into sending nude photos and videos of herself through an app called Musical.ly.

According to a search warrant, Royce Andrew Reddix, 18, used the app to pretend to be a 12-year-old bisexual girl named “Hannah” and coerced the 12-year-old to send the photos and videos. Once the girl complied, Reddix told the girl that he would release the images she sent to her friends and family if she did not continue to send more, the warrant said.

During the investigation, the 12-year-old told police that she had communicated with a North Carolina man named Andrew through FaceTime and discussed the fact that she was being blackmailed into sending photos. Andrew, who was later identified as Reddix, told the girl that he was a computer expert who could hack her blackmailer’s Musical.ly account to erase all photos and videos she sent.

Police determined Reddix was the person behind both accounts through photo identification and through an IP address.

The girl did not realize that Andrew was the same person who had been blackmailing her, the warrant said.

Reddix, who was a student living on the North Carolina A&T campus in Greensboro during the incident, was charged with eight counts of first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of exploitation.

He was out on $1,000 bond Wednesday evening.

Officials with North Carolina A&T said Reddix has been suspended from the university.