Couple Use AFF to Commit Sex-Tortion...
Couple Busted in Sex-tortion
Arrested for the alleged criminal sexploits were Michael Largue, 45, a financial adviser from Franklin Square, and his lover, Shawn Payne, 34, of East Hampton.
Their alleged web of raunchy wrongdoing was uncovered Sunday when a 43-year-old man contacted Nassau Police 3rd Squad detectives and said a female sex partner he met online was blackmailing him with illicit videotapes of their steamy encounters, police said.
The victim, a Nassau resident who was going through a divorce, told detectives that he met Payne through Adult FriendFinder, an online dating Web site, according to Raymond Cote, commanding officer of 3rd Squad detectives.
Cote said the victim and Payne engaged in "intimate sexual activity" on two occasions, the first occurring this past New Year's Eve.
Afterward, Cote said, Payne notified the victim that she had secret videotapes and photographs of their lusty encounters and said she would give the material to his estranged wife unless he forked over $50,000.
But a sting was arranged after the victim contacted police, and Payne was nabbed Sunday in a Herricks parking lot accepting $210 as "a down payment" from the victim, Cote said.
When Payne was collared, Cote said, she was in possession of identification of a 47-year-old upstate woman.
Detectives contacted that woman, who also was married and going through a divorce, and learned that she had met Largue on Adult FriendFinder and engaged in a sexual relationship, Cote said.
As detectives dug further, they learned that Largue had introduced the female victim to Payne. Cote said the victim wanted to protect her assets from her husband, and Payne was posing as a "divorce specialist."
The female victim had agreed to set up a bank account that Payne administered, Cote said. But rather than helping her, Cote said, Payne and Largue stole the money from the account.
After stealing more than of $51,000 from the woman, Payne and Largue then blackmailed her for more using secret videos of her intimate escapades with Largue, Cote said.
When the woman could no longer pay, Cote said, Payne forced her into having sex with at least two unidentified men for money.
"The victim is not someone who would be predisposed to prostitution," Cote said. "This is a respected member of her community."
Largue was arrested Tuesday and arraigned yesterday in district court in Hempstead on two counts of second-degree grand larceny, a class C felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Payne was arraigned Tuesday on multiple accounts including second-degree grand larceny and promoting prostitution, also a class C felony. Both were being held in lieu of bail last night.
Cote said evidence has been obtained from Largue's residence that indicates he and his lover may have victimized other people through dubious romances.
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