A man is facing felony charges for allegedly posting nude photos of a woman on social media and demanding money from her to remove them. ADVERTISING A man is facing felony charges for allegedly posting nude photos of a woman
A man is facing felony charges for allegedly posting nude photos of a woman on social media and demanding money from her to remove them.
Jerome Kaleokalani Kailiwai, 39, of Kailua-Kona, was charged with first-degree violation of privacy, first-degree extortion and second-degree terroristic threatening. He was charged at the Kealakehe Police Station on Monday. He was in custody after being arrested on seven counts of violating a temporary restraining order at 11:30 a.m.
All offenses were committed against the same woman, said Chris Loos, media representative for the Hawaii Police Department.
Kailiwai posted nude images of the adult woman on social media on Aug. 1, according to court documents.
Using text messages and voice mail he demanded money to take the images down, Loos said. The victim refused to pay, Loos said.
Hawaii law dictates that someone has to ask for at least $200 over 12 months to qualify as first-degree extortion.
According to Interpol, the average demand in similar cases is $500, although they reported incidents going up to $15,000.
Kailiwai also allegedly threatened bodily harm against the victim between Dec. 14, 2014 and April 15, according to documents.
Kailiwai was scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday in front of Kona District Court Judge Margaret Masunaga. However, he posted his bond and his arraignment is set for 8:30 a.m. Nov. 19. His bond in the extortion case was a total of $7,500. In the restraining order the total was $14,000.
The heaviest sentence could be under the extortion charge, a class B felony, with at least 10 years in prison and up to $25,000 in fines.
