2 more men charged amid investigation into Peters Township "catfishing" and "sextortion" scheme
Two more men are facing charges tied to an investigation into a "catfishing" and "sextortion" scheme that began over the previous winter in Peters Township.
In February, Zachariah Meyers, a student at Peters Township High School, was arrested for coercing classmates into contacting older men "for the purpose of engaging in sexual intercourse," according to court documents.
During the course of that investigation, nearly 30 teenage boys were interviewed and identified as victims of this scheme. Two of those victims have now been linked to additional suspects.
On Monday, 24-year-old Charles Usner of Mt. Lebanon was arrested on multiple felony charges, including statutory sexual intercourse and unlawful contact with a minor. According to the criminal complaint, Usner is accused of arranging to meet with a 15-year-old boy at Peters Lake Park to perform oral sex with each other and recording the event on a cellphone. Investigators say that cellphone was provided by the 15-year-old, and it previously belonged to his deceased grandmother.
Usner is being held in the Washington County Jail on a $500,000 cash bond.
On July 23, Aaron White of Charleroi was arrested on multiple felony charges, including possession of child pornography and unlawful contact with a minor. White is accused of receiving nude photos and videos of a 15-year-old performing a sexual act. He also allegedly sent images and videos of his own genitalia to the teenager.
White is being held in the Washington County Jail on $150,000.
Investigators say they found these exchanges while searching through the boy's devices, and not in connection with the previous investigation of Meyers' sextortion scheme.
