OUR LATEST ISSUE
SITE SEARCH
Gay News: A 19-year-old man admits to blackmailing men he contacted on gay and adult chat lines.
By: Nigel Robinson
Sutherland "talked sexy"
Sutherland "talked sexy"
Teen blackmailed men on gay and adult chat lines
Kelz Sutherland admitted at Edinburgh Sheriff Court to extorting £87,000 from men after he had tricked them into entering into a conversation about underage sex.
In the scam, he would then pretend to be another person and interrupt the conversation. Claiming to be the chat line’s moderator, he would then tell his victim that his name and recordings of their conversation would have to be reported to the police, unless he parted with a substantial amount of cash.
Sutherland targeted men between 32 and 65, with one 62-year-old parting with £34,000, after having been pursued by Sutherland on the phone for three months.
The scam came to light when one victim refused to pay up and instead went to the police, who tracked Sutherland to the house in Edinburgh where he lived with his parents.
The police initially arrested Sutherland’s mother, Mary Sutherland, who had given her son access to her bank account and into which he had placed the “hush money”.
However, she was released and no charges have been brought against her.
Mrs Sutherland denied any knowledge of the blackmail plot but said that she was aware that her son worked as an “escort” and that he "talked sexy" to callers in his bedroom.
If the caller was interested in heterosexual sex then Sutherland would reportedly pretend to be a woman.
In court, Sutherland pleaded guilty to nine charges of extortion from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2009, and admitted attempting to extort £28,000 from two men. Sentence was deferred subject to psychiatric reports and he has been remanded in custody.
His defence claimed that other people had also been involved in the scam and that Sutherland had seen himself taking action against people he considered to be paedophiles.
As he was remanded in custody, Sutherland: “These men say they are victims, why did they give me the money in the first place? Why is it me that's sitting here and not them?”
Sheriff Deirdre MacNeill told Sutherland that he had left callers “mortified and embarrassed” and added: “I can see this gentleman has a troubled background.”
