Man charged after sextortion investigation involving PA student
DERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WHTM) – A New Jersey man has been charged after a sextortion investigation involving a Dauphin County teen uncovered dozens of additional victims across the country.
Derry Township Police say Cody Rock of Winfield, New Jersey, was arrested on charges including child pornography and sexual extortion in Dauphin County.
The investigation began in October 2025 when Hershey High School’s Principal and other administrators received an anonymous email from “a concerned parent” that contained sexual images of a 13-year-old female student.
The emailer claimed the female student was sending their son explicit images and requested that the student be punished.
The student was identified and interviewed by police with their mother. The student informed police that they used an app called Teen Chat City and began communicating with a 20-year-old man. Their conversation moved to Snapchat, where the student said she later blocked the man for being “mean.”
The man then reached out to the teen again on Teen Chat City and threatened to “expose” her if she did not send him explicit images of herself. The teen told police the man said he would find and kill her and harm her family if she did not send him explicit photos, and said once she did, he would “let her go.”
Police say the teen then admitted to sending an explicit photo to the man she met on Teen Chat City.
Officials attempted to reach the “concerned parent” who emailed the photos, but found the email to be deactivated. Police were able to track the email through an IP address in New Jersey at the home of Cody Rock.
Police in New Jersey say they’d opened a similar investigation into Rock regarding alleged sextortion in Kansas and Ohio.
Investigators went to Rock’s New Jersey home and seized multiple devices, including laptops, cameras, and storage devices. Police say Rock denied talking to children and never looked at child sexual abuse material. Rock informed police that he has a background in tech and that he constantly wipes his devices or gets new ones.
Police were able to find a Discord account with the username “willietheweiner” where they say Rock communicated inappropriately with someone who identified themselves as a 14-year-old girl living in Canada.
In another interview, police said Rock denied any attempts to “sextort” anyone, but that he would click on links online that showed child sex abuse material and felt bad for the children and wanted to help them.
Police say Rock admitted to trying to alert the school of “the girl in Pennsylvania” because he saw something involving her and felt bad. He said the only reason he sent the emails and photos of the teen to the school and police was that he was trying to help.
Rock is also alleged to have admitted to using “Teen Chat” and would “ask for stuff” to ensure he was talking to a legitimate minor he could alert people about. Police say he also admitted to similar conduct in several other states involving at least 50 girls, the youngest being 10.
Rock turned himself in to Derry Township Police and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Dauphin County on August 18.
The Derry Township School District released the following statement regarding the investigation.
Derry Township School District reported suspected Child Sexual Abuse Material involving a minor to the Derry Township Police Department immediately upon becoming aware of it in October 2025. From that point forward, the Derry Township Police Department assumed responsibility for the investigation, which resulted in an arrest this week.
We are grateful to the Derry Township Police Department for their diligence, professionalism, and unwavering commitment to investigating this matter and helping to keep our students safe. The safety and well-being of our students remain our highest priority, and we will continue to work closely with law enforcement as needed throughout the legal process.
Because this is an active criminal matter involving a minor, the District cannot provide additional comment at this time.
The FBI says it has seen a “huge increase in the number of cases involving children and teens being threatened and coerced into sending explicit images online” nationwide.
Utah man arrested for harboring runaway teen in shed, engaging in sexual activity
SOUTH JORDAN, Utah (ABC4) — A 42-year-old man in Utah was arrested for allegedly harboring a runaway juvenile in his shed, engaging in sexual activity with her, and providing her with drugs and alcohol.
Brandon Lee Jolley, 42, has been arrested on one count of unlawful sexual conduct with a 16/17-year-old, one count of endangerment of a child, one count of offering alcohol to a minor, and one count of harboring a runaway.
According to court documents, on July 6, South Jordan Police received a tip from Taylorsville Police Department that a 17-year-old runaway may be staying in a shed in South Jordan.
Upon arrival at the location, law enforcement made contact with Brandon Lee Jolley and ordered him to unlock the shed. Inside, officers observed the runaway juvenile, empty beer cans, needles, crumpled tinfoil, blankets, and bedding.
The young girl was taken to the Jordan Valley Hospital, where she agreed to participate in a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner examination.
Jolley was transported to the South Jordan Police Department for an interview. He advised that he had been communicating with minor on Instagram for approximately one year and she had recently run away and started sleeping in his shed.
While Jolley denied ever touching the young girl, the minor alleged that Jolley had engaged in sexual activity with her since she was 15 years old and had also provided her with methamphetamine and alcohol while she stayed in the shed.
After further investigation of security footage and interviews, Jolley was arrested and transported to the Salt Lake County Jail. He is currently being held without bail.
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New Jersey woman accused of sexually assaulting child, posting video on Snapchat: police
A New Jersey woman is accused of sexually assaulting a child younger than 13, recording the alleged abuse and sharing at least one video on Snapchat, according to court documents.
Authorities allege Cranmer recorded the 14-second video on May 6 inside the bathroom of a Little Egg Harbor home while the child was in her care.
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Investigators identified Cranmer through several distinctive tattoos visible in the recording, including one on her leg depicting breasts, the outlet reported.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, the investigation began May 20 after the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency referred the allegations to the Little Egg Harbor Police Department and the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office Special Victims Unit. Detectives later obtained search warrants for both a cellphone allegedly used by Cranmer and her Snapchat account, where investigators said they uncovered additional videos saved in Snapchat's Memories feature.
According to the affidavit, the cellphone had been purchased for Cranmer by a former roommate as a birthday gift. After asking Cranmer to move out, the roommate requested she leave the phone behind. While reviewing its contents, the roommate allegedly discovered the recording, saved the video and later turned the device over to investigators, according to the affidavit.
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Investigators also allege Cranmer was laughing while assaulting the child in the video, according to the court according to court documents cited by NJ.com.
At least one of the alleged recordings was shared on Snapchat, New Jersey 101.5 reported.
Cranmer was booked into the Ocean County Jail, where she is being held without bail.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office for additional information and to determine whether Cranmer has legal representation.
Florida man sentenced to life in prison in child molestation case
VERO BEACH — A judge on July 9 ordered a 78-year-old Vero Beach man to serve multiple life prison terms for felony convictions related to sexually molesting two girls over several years.
The punishment for George Frank Bollis Jr., of the 1800 block of 10th Place, Vero Beach was imposed during an emotionally charged hearing after a jury on April 17 convicted him of six counts of lewd or lascivious molestation with offender over 18, victim under 12; and two counts of lewd or lascivious molestation with offender over 18, victim 12 to 16.
Bollis, who did not testify during his four-day trial, was found not guilty on six counts of sexual battery.
He also didn't speak in court during Thursday's sentencing hearing, but he got an angry earful from the now-teenage girl he was convicted of sexually molesting.
A jury seated at the Indian River County Courthouse deliberated for nearly four hours before they delivered the verdicts, according to Assistant State Attorney Brian Workman, who prosecuted the case.
Workman said the state was seeking the maximum punishment of life in prison for Bollis to ensure “he is never again in a position to abuse another child."
"This was not a case that could be resolved with any other sentence. The facts of this case were nightmarish. There were two victims who were sexually abused from a young age," Workman said after court. "And that abuse was done by someone who they should have been able to trust, and he violated that trust. He betrayed the people that he was supposed to take care of, and for that he deserves life in prison.”
Bollis was 71 years old when he was arrested in May 2019 after Indian River County Sheriff's officials said he had molested a girl for years, beginning when the child was 9 years old.
Sheriff's detectives in December 2018 began investigating allegations that Bollis had been "sexually abusing" two girls dating to 2016, according to arrest reports.
In January 2019, a 13-year-old girl told out-of-state investigators the teen had been molested by Bollis since June 2016. Officials said incidents included Bollis taking “inappropriate” photographs of the girl and at least one encounter at his business office.
A second female victim was also identified, officials said.
'Too young to understand'
In court on July 9 with her parents and around a dozen supporters, the teenager struggled to remain calm as she delivered a lengthy statement to a silent courtroom.
“Your Honor, I was 9 years old. Old enough to remember, but too young to understand why the world could suddenly become unsafe,” she said. “Too young to know the names for what was happening to me.”
She told Circuit Judge Anastasia Norman she has Post-traumatic stress disorder and “wakes up from nightmares in panic and fear."
“I can tell you that I cried so hard that the blood vessels around my eyes burst,” she said. “I can tell you that intimacy feels like walking through a room full of ghosts.”
Bollis, who was chained and seated at a defense table with a trio of attorneys, turned his head toward the teenager as she spoke.
She urged Norman to impose the maximum sentence possible.
“He made me feel powerless then,” she said, “but I am not powerless now.”
Her parents and a sister spoke for several minutes and detailed the pain and anger Bollis caused their family.
“It killed our once incredibly happy family,” her mother said.
Norman, who told Bollis “a child's innocence is one of the most valuable things that a person can take,” said based on the evidence presented at trial and the jury’s verdict, “there is only one just and appropriate sentence in this case.”
“On all counts, I will sentence you to life in prison,” Norman said, ruling that the terms should be served all at the same time.
Six of the lewd and lascivious convictions carry a mandatory minimum term of 25 years, she added.
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After court, Bollis’ attorney Andy Metcalf said an appeal will be filed to challenge his conviction, in part based on the number of jurors - six- seated for his trial.
“Florida is one of only a handful of states that does not provide for a 12-person jury in felony cases. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments on this issue in this year’s term,” Metcalf said. “We did request one in this case and preserved the issue for appeal. We strongly believe the U.S. Supreme Court will finally correct Florida’s denial of this fundamental right.”
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