Student charged with running 'sextortion' and 'catfishing' scheme involving over 20 minors
Zachariah Meyers, an 18-year-old student who attends Peters Township High School, was arrested Friday and charged with over 300 felonies, according to court records cited by WPXI and WTAE. The charges include sex trafficking and possessing child pornography.
After appearing in court on Friday, Meyers was denied bail, and a judge called the high school senior a “danger to the community.”
Authorities became aware of the alleged criminal network operated by Meyers in early December 2025, according to the complaint. Police interviewed 30 underage boys and identified more than 20 victims whose ages ranged from 14 to 17.
Authorities say that Meyers victimized the teenagers over platforms like TikTok and Snapchat. The victims believed they were communicating with an attractive young woman, as the 18-year-old reportedly hid behind fake accounts, including an adult film actress from the Netherlands.
“Our entire Peters Township School community is profoundly saddened and troubled by the recent events that have affected our families,” a spokesperson for the Peters Township School District said in a statement to The Christian Post. “Events like these can be deeply unsettling for our students, staff, and families.”
The high school will have additional counselors and social workers available to support anyone in need, the spokesperson said.
“This matter remains under active investigation by law enforcement, and the District is cooperating fully,” the statement continued. “The safety and well-being of our students and staff remain our highest priority, as we work with the Police to support the victims in this matter and protect their confidentiality as required by law.”
The spokesperson directed CP to a section of the district’s webpage that provides resources on digital safety for families. In addition to advising students to be aware of the information they share online, the webpage advises parents to discuss internet safety with their children and develop an online safety plan.
“We will also continue to provide educational programming regarding online safety and training for parents and students,” the spokesperson stated.
The complaint against Meyers accuses the senior of instructing multiple juveniles to send him sexually explicit content of themselves. He also allegedly exchanged nude photos with the victims. One of the victims claimed that he was pressured to record himself having sex with unknown adult men on more than one occasion.
Another victim said that Meyers instructed him to secretly record the high school’s wrestling team, according to the complaint. The victim said that he recorded the locker room six different times, capturing members of the team and 10 underage boys in various states of undress.
When one victim refused to pay Meyers $500 in exchange for not sharing the explicit material sent to him, the victim’s sister received a naked photo of the boy in an Instagram message, according to the complaint.
“Sextortion has devastating ramifications for victims, and is one of the fastest growing crimes targeting children, in particular, minor-aged boys, according to the FBI,” Donna Rice Hughes, president and CEO of Enough Is Enough, said in a statement to CP about the case.
“As boys spend time gaming online or scrolling social media feeds alone, they are left wide open to manipulation. As in this Pittsburgh case, the predator uses social media platforms to pose as an attractive female to lure boys into sending explicit photos, then blackmails them,” the EIE leader continued. “In a number of sextortion cases, the teen boy victims were so threatened that they committed suicide.”
Earlier this year, the FBI issued a statement on Safer Internet Day 2026, warning that the bureau has seen an increase in sextortion cases in recent years.
In January 2024, the bureau reported that, from October 2022 to March 2023, “the FBI observed an increase in reporting of financially motivated sextortion incidents involving minor victims compared to the same period the previous year of greater than 20%.”
Several parents in recent years have taken action by filing lawsuits against platforms like Roblox, alleging that the gaming platform failed to implement safety standards that would protect children from sexual exploitation.
One lawsuit filed in November in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California claimed that Roblox has served as a "hunting ground" for child-sex predators for years, claiming it gives them "easy access" to children and fails to screen users properly.
The boy at the center of the case, identified as "John Doe J.H" in the suit, had "suffered devastating and life-altering psychological trauma" due to Roblox’s “reckless disregard for child safety,” the lawsuit alleged.
When the boy started playing Roblox, his mother initially believed it was safe for children, as the platform advertised the supposed "safety and security of the app,” according to the complaint. Her son was reportedly an "avid Roblox user" before a predator targeted him through the application in 2023.
"After cultivating Plaintiff's trust on Defendant's dangerous app, the predators sent Plaintiff graphic messages and sent him sexually explicit images of themselves," the complaint stated. "Exploiting the trust he had been allowed to build through Defendant's defective app, the predator coerced Plaintiff to send sexually explicit images of himself — including images of his genitals."
A spokesperson for Roblox told CP at the time that the company is “deeply troubled by any incident that endangers [its] users.” According to the Roblox spokesperson, the gaming platform launched 125 new safety initiatives in 2025.
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