Grand jury indicts Pittsburgh man accused of extorting minors for nude photos

A federal grand jury has indicted a former Pittsburgh resident who confessed to threatening to kill the families of minors around the country unless they sent him sexually explicit photos via Instagram.

Markell Smith, 24, formerly of the city’s Hill District faces charges of child sexual exploitation and making threats via interstate communication with the intent to extort, U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady said Friday.

The five-count indictment named Smith as the sole defendant.

Prosecutors said that in 2018 and 2019 Smith threatened young girls, including an 11-year-old girl in New Jersey who sent him sexually explicit images after he threatened her and her family in May 2018.

Court records unsealed last year show the FBI traced Smith’s Pittsburgh social media accounts to similar extortion attempts targeting children in Pittsburgh as well as in Kentucky, Florida and Washington through November 2019. Investigators found Smith in possession of sexually explicit photos as well as videos of several minors.

The minors said they complied out of fear, court records show. Smith told them if they didn’t send him the nude photos, he would hack their accounts, find them and harm them.

Smith faces a maximum sentence of up to 30 years in prison and a fine of $1 million, according to Brady’s office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Heidi M. Grogan is prosecuting the case.

The FBI and the Red Bank Police Department in New Jersey conducted the investigation leading to the indictment.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Justice.gov/psc/.