Decorated military veteran catfished by sextortionist he met on fetish site, court filings say

NewsWorldAmericasDecorated military veteran catfished by sextortionist he met on fetish site, court filings sayExclusive: ‘My client’s experience in having his private images weaponized for profit is part of a thriving black-market of online exploitation,’ attorney Zaynah Chaudhury told The IndependentJustin Rohrlich Sunday 19 April 2026 15:26 BSTBookmarkBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":false,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2960187","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/veteran-sextortion-instagram-meta-lawsuit-fetlife-b2960187.html","title":"Decorated military veteran catfished by sextortionist he met on fetish site"}}CloseParents of teenage who took his own life after being victim of sextortion sue MetaThe latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekdayYour briefing on the latest headlines from across the USYour briefing on the latest headlines from across the USEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_Evening_Newsletter","regTitle":"Evening Headlines","subscriptionGroup":"us_evening_headlines","subscriptionGroupId":"4326e634-422a-4447-8e1e-604a937cd3b5","type":"daily_news","pathPrefix":["/us","/news/world/americas","/news/world/americas/crime"],"title":"The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday","mobileTitle":"Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US","imageSrc":"https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/images/newsletters/usEveningHeadlines1_1.png","label":"I would like to receive morning headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts by email","newsletterKey":"receiveEveningHeadlinesUSNe...