NEW YORK — A man in Peru is facing U.S. federal charges for making over 150 hoax bomb threats to school districts, synagogues, and other institutions in one week, allegedly in retaliation for not receiving nude photos from minors.
Eddie Manuel Nuñez Santos, also known as "Lucas", 33, of Lima, Peru, was arrested on Sept. 26 by Peruvian authorities, according to Southern District of New York for the U.S. Dept. of Justice.
Nuñez Santos is accused of sending over 150 fake bomb threats in multiple states, including Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania, between Sept. 15 and Sept. 21.
"The charges unsealed today show that those who engage in such conduct, wreaking havoc on our communities, will not find safe haven merely because they do it from outside our borders," said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York. "Working together with our law enforcement partners, we will find you, and we will prosecute you.”
Nuñez Santos is also facing charges for allegedly asking a 15-year-old girl for explicit photos.
The FBI traced phone numbers and IP addresses back to several teen girls Nuñez Santos was talking to online. He used the alias "Lucas" to portray himself as a 15-year-old while talking to the teens. When the teens refused to send Nunez Santos photos, he threatened to kill them or send bomb threats to their schools, officials said.
These threats caused evacuations at schools, a lockdown at a hospital, and flight delays in airports, officials said.
“Not only did Santos allegedly email hundreds of hoax bomb threats terrorizing schools, hospitals, and houses of worship, he also perversely tried to sextort innocent teenage girls. His actions wasted limited law enforcement resources, put first responders in unnecessary danger, and victimized children,” said Assistant Director in Charge James Smith of the FBI New York Field Office.
Nunez Santos is federally charged with transmitting threatening interstate communications, conveying fake information and hoaxes, attempting sexual exploitation of a child, attempting to coerce and entice a minor, and attempting to receive child pornography.
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