Credit: Bensalem Township police
A Bensalem Township man pleaded guilty this week in a so-called “sextortion” case.
Ian Pisarchuk, 26, of Bensalem Township, pleaded guilty before President Judge Wallace Bateman Tuesday at the Bucks County Justice Center to 67 counts enticing a minor to produce child pornography, possession of child pornography, unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of minors, sexual extortion, stalking, terroristic threats, harassment, and cyber harassment of a child, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.
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Sentencing for Pisarchuk was deferred for 90 days so he can get evaluated by the Sex Offender Assessment Board.
Last June, Pisarchuk was charged with dozens of offensives related to sextortion and possessing sexually explicit materials of both juveniles and adults.
At that time, there were six known victims, including a 12 year old.
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After media coverage of Pisarchuk’s arrest and further investigation by Bensalem Township detectives Aaron Woelkers and Ryan Kolb, nine more victims were identified and additional charges were filed last July.
From the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office:
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The investigation into Pisarchuk began in late 2020 when a juvenile victim came forward to say she was being harassed on Snapchat by someone threatening that he had nude pictures of her and was going to post them online. The investigation led detectives to an IP address linked to Pisarchuk.
A forensic examination of Pisarchuk’s phone yielded dozens of sexually explicit photos and videos of both juveniles and adults, as well as information directing them to several additional victims. One of the victims identified was 21-year-old Lindsey Piccone.
In court papers, it is stated Pisarchuk told police he had spoken with Piccone on Snapchat and threatened her to obtain explicit images.
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Piccone, of Bensalem Township, took her own life at Tyler State Park in Newtown Township in 2016 after she went missing, leading to a large-scale search.
Credit: Submitted
Assistant District Attorney Brittney Kern said in court that Piccone left a note behind before she went missing that said she had been contacted by an unknown Snapchat user who threatened to ruin her life, expose her, and blackmail her.
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In her note, Lindsey wrote that “before someone else ruins my life, I’m ruining mine,” the prosecutor said.
“I hurt Lindsey and forced her into an awful situation,” Pisarchuk allegedly wrote in a letter to her family following her death.
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“The investigation determined that Pisarchuk would seek to build rapport with the victims before threatening to expose or do harm to them or others if they did not comply with his demands for sexually explicit images and videos. He used a number of different Snapchat usernames during the four years he tormented young women and girls on the social media site,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement.
District Attorney Matt Weintraub commended the victims for coming forward.
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”I applaud the survivors of this defendant’s insidious attempts to ruin their lives for their bravery,” he said. “He extorted his victims through his criminal actions. Now it is he who will pay the price, not them.”
Pisarchuk was remanded to the county prison until sentencing. He has been behind bars since his 2021 arrest.
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