A 25-year-old Turks and Caicos man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in the United States after pleading guilty to sextortion offences involving a minor in the state of Missouri.

The sentence was handed down on March 19 by US District Judge Joshua M Divine against Alexander Gardiner of Providenciales.

Gardiner had pleaded guilty last November in the US District Court in St Louis to one count of coercion and enticement of a minor.

According to a statement from the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, Gardiner—who is a dual citizen of the United States and Turks and Caicos—met a 15-year-old boy from Missouri via Snapchat.

Prosecutors said that after repeated requests, the teen sent explicit images believing he would be left alone. However, Gardiner instead continued to harass the minor through iMessage, Facebook and WhatsApp, threatening to distribute the images to the victim’s family and friends unless more material was provided.

Investigators also revealed that Gardiner possessed multiple explicit videos of teenage boys, which he had obtained through Snapchat. While posing as a female, he also directed a 14-year-old to produce explicit material in 2021.

Authorities said Gardiner further distributed such material on social media platforms and participated in online groups that targeted minors.

The US Attorney’s Office urged anyone who believes they may have been targeted in similar schemes to contact local law enforcement or the FBI.

Following his prison term, Gardiner will be placed under lifetime supervised release.