He found her on Twitter, a red-headed woman calling herself Temptress Nirvana. She sent him provocative photos of herself, according to federal agents.
In exchange, he sent her cash. The married man from Detroit made online payments totaling about $10,000 to the woman he hadn’t met in person, he later told the FBI. But the woman, later identified as Erica Jean Freeman, wanted more, demanding $15,000 or she threatened to ruin the man’s reputation.
This week, the FBI arrested 25-year-old Freeman in her Fairburn home after a criminal complaint was filed accusing her of extortion. What began in September as a seemingly private, online romance suddenly became a federal case. On her Twitter profile, Freeman identified herself as a dominatrix.
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The man, identified only as M.S., made weekly payments to Freeman, and when he tried to cut off communication, she allegedly threatened to expose him, the criminal filing states. Freeman wanted $10,000 to stay quiet.
“M.S. was a married man and did not want his relationship with Freeman exposed to his wife or the public,” FBI Special Agent Christopher Pennisi wrote.
The man continued to send money to Freeman, and in March, she mailed him a pair of red underwear, according to the FBI. The man sent Freeman a picture of him wearing the underwear on his head.
The next month, he tried again to end the relationship, he told the FBI. Freeman demanded money again, and sent a string of emails, threatening to contact his family and friends.
“I’ll tell everyone you’ve ever met in your entire life for thinking you can ignore me,” Freeman wrote in one email.
“You blocked and deleted me off everything and now you think you can just ignore me and I’ll just let it go?” she wrote in another. “You’re the worst excuse for a human being that I’ve ever come in contact with.”
Though Freeman used different online accounts to send emails and messages through social media, investigators tracked the IP addresses back to a Fairburn address. One day in April, Freeman allegedly texted the man from six different cell phones, the FBI said. Freeman also repeatedly called the man’s wife, phone records showed.
“Your husband has been cheating on you since your honeymoon, and he’s also a pervert,” Freeman said in a voicemail for the man’s wife.
Through her various social media accounts, driver’s license photos and computer IP address, the FBI was able to identify Freeman, who referred to herself a variety of names. The federal complaint was filed Tuesday, and Freeman was arrested that afternoon at her home, the FBI said. She had her first court appearance the same day and is custody of the U.S. Marshals.
Attempts to locate a lawyer for Freeman were not immediately succesful.
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