Aurora Teen Used Naked Photos to Blackmail Women for Sex: Cops

Photo: Maxwell T. Melgar. Credit: Aurora police.

An 18-year-old Aurora man who was charged with intimidation in late January for allegedly threatening to post compromising photos of a woman on social media if she did not engage in sexual acts with him, is facing additional charges stemming from similar threats against a different woman, police said.

Maxwell T. Melgar, of the 800 block of Lafayette St., was charged over the weekend with attempted sexual assault and intimidation, both felonies, after forensic evidence in the original case against him uncovered a similar alleged crime against a different woman, according to police.

In both cases, the women, ages 18 and 20 and both from Aurora, were acquaintances of Melgar and both sent at least one nude photo of themselves to him, police said.

When Melgar allegedly attempted to extort sex from the 18-year-old by threatening to post the photos, she called the Aurora police, according to officials.

Officers took Melgar into custody at about 11 p.m. Jan. 27, in the area of Fourth Street and Euclid Avenue, which is where Melgar told the woman to to meet him for sex, police said. As a result of that investigation, Melgar was charged with felony intimidation.

According to police, during the course of the investigation, detectives secured a search warrant for Melgar’s cell phone, which allegedly contained evidence of the crime against the 20-year-old woman.

According to charging documents, the woman engaged in sexual acts with Melgar approximately 15 times and paid him an estimated $500 so he would not disseminate the photo of her on the Internet, police said.

Melgar is being held in lieu of a $75,000 bond at the Kane County Correctional Center in St. Charles and is due in court Feb. 25.

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