19-Year-Old Charged in Extortion Rape of Teen in Lake Forest

LAKE FOREST, CA A 19-year-old man accused of extorting an underage teenage friend into having sex with him multiple times last year in the Lake Forest area faces up to 84 years to life in prison if convicted of felony charges, a prosecutor said today.

Thomas Lee McElroy was scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon on five counts of rape, two counts of forcible oral copulation and one count each of using an underage person for obscene matter and possessing child pornography.

McElroy, who was arrested last Thursday, was being held on $1 million bail.

The alleged victim, who was 17 at the time, was friends with the defendant, who allegedly was able to manipulate computer devices to send her text messages threatening that "bad things would happen to her family" if she did not have sex with him, according to Deputy District Attorney Mena Guirguis.

"He told her if she didn't have sex with (him), he would do bad things," Guirguis alleged.

McElroy allegedly sent himself similar text messages and showed them to the girl, saying he, too, was being extorted and harassed, Guirguis said.

McElroy raped the teen five times and forced her to perform oral sex on him two other times over a two-month period in the spring of last year, Guirguis alleged.

The defendant "knew intimate things about her family," which made the threats more credible, Guirguis alleged.

The defendant used multiple phone numbers and personas to trick the victim, the prosecutor alleged.

The two had known each other for about a year at the time, Guirguis said.

"She wasn't interested in him" romantically, the prosecutor said.

At one point, McElroy allegedly told the teen that the man threatening her would have "truth serum" and could tell if they lied about having sex, Guirguis said.

The defendant also extorted money from the girl and had her perform sex acts that he videotaped, Guirguis alleged.

Eventually, she broke down and told family members, who were suspicious and alerted authorities, Guirguis said.

City News Service