Police: Teen a target of 'sextortion' via Snapchat

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Alpharetta police have a warning for parents everywhere after salacious conversations between a teenager and a stranger on Snapchat turned into violent threats.

Police said they're searching for a Snapchat user who demanded more nude photos from a teenage girl. The girl's family called the police once the threats escalated. 

"If the victim didn't continue to send naked photos, he would continue to harm her and her family members," said Officer Howard Miller with Alpharetta Police. According to a police report, the suspect may be 17 years old, but investigators are still trying to track them down. 

The police report said the girl's friends encouraged her to add a young man on Snapchat, and she sent him dozens of nude photos. Her mother discovered the conversations and deleted the Snapchat account. 

Once the mother reactivated it, she found that her own phone was hacked and the suspect started sending violent threats against members of the girl's family. 

The teenager also said a group of girls at a local middle school also sent nude photos to the subject. No word if those teens faced similar threats. 

Police said this incident shows the need for parents to check their children's phones, look inside the apps, and also warn them against conversing with strangers online: the strangers may not be a teenager at all. 

The suspect could even face federal charges, in addition to local and state charges of possessing child porn, enticing a child and terroristic threats.