A South Island man is facing blackmail charges. Photo/File
A South Island man is facing blackmail charges. Photo/File
A Christchurch man has been accused of blackmailing another man to pay him $40,000 or else he would post allegations of historic sexual crimes on social media.
The 37-year-old from New Brighton, has been charged with blackmailing the man last September 29.
He faces a second charge alleging that hewent ahead with a Facebook post last week "with intent to cause harm" and caused "serious emotional distress".
The man was due to appear at Christchurch District Court today but was granted a registrar's remand, without having to appear before a judge and without plea, to appear in court on March 29.
Although he did not seek name suppression today and no suppression orders were made, a later application has since been made.
Alleged blackmail victims are automatically protected by statutory suppressions.
The blackmail charge has been laid under the Crimes Act 1961 and carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in jail.
The second charge relating to the Facebook post was laid under the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015, which carries a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment or a fine of $50,000.
