Michael Van Culin, 32, of Monroeville, faces up to 10 years in state prison.
A South Jersey man pled guilty Monday to blackmailing a 16-year-old Canadian girl into stripping naked over a webcam while he recorded her, according to officials.
Michael Van Culin, 32, of Monroeville, in Salem County. (Submitted photo) Michael Van Culin, 32, of Monroeville, in Salem County, pled guilty to first-degree manufacturing child pornography.
In addition to blackmailing a 16-year-old to strip for him, Van Culin also allegedly attempted to blackmail girls in Arizona, Philadelphia, Maryland and Seattle, according to the attorney general's office.
Authorities arrested Van Culin on Feb. 10, 2014 after a joint investigation between the state Division of Criminal Justice and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. He was one of 28 people arrested in Operation Predator Alert.
"Van Culin is a ruthless predator who stalked vulnerable underage girls on the Internet, exploiting their insecurities so that he could sexually exploit them and use them to create child pornography," said Acting Attorney General Hoffman in a statement. "He's the type of online predator that every parent fears. Fortunately, we've ensured that he'll spend many years in prison, where he cannot pose a threat to children."
According to authorities, Van Culin befriended a 16-year-old Canadian girl online. During their conversations, he collected information from her that he used to hack into her email accounts with assistance from decryption software.
He threatened to expose information about the girl unless she stripped for him in front of a webcam, where he recorded it. Authorities found the video on his computer, which shows the visibly shaken girl disrobing in front of a mirror under his orders.
In total, Van Culin allegedly collected video footage of four girls -- three were between 14 and 16 years old. One was 17 years old. He would pretend to be a teenage boy and befriend the girls on social media and in chat rooms before blackmailing them. He allegedly attempted to blackmail a fifth girl but she did not comply with his demands.
Van Culin only admitted to blackmailing the 16-year-old Canadian girl, according to authorities.
He is scheduled for sentencing on May 27. He faces 10 years in state prison, of which he must serve eight-and-a-half years. Once released, he is required to register as a sex offender and be subject to parole supervision for life.
Don E. Woods may be reached at dwoods@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @donewoods1. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.