The mastermind behind the pornographic website Jamaicangirls-exposed, 27-year-old Ronald Oates, was on September 5 remanded in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court until September 18, the date set for the case to be mentioned.

In court, it was revealed that Oates had access to several persons' email as well as information gathered from their BlackBerry phones, which he would then use as means of extortion. In one instance, Oates had access to the gmail account of a female complainant and threatened to reveal the information to the rest of her email contacts if his monetary demands had not been met. She refused to comply and her photos were uploaded to the three websites he had established.

undercover operation

A male complainant was made to pay approximately $1 million to keep the contents Oates had on him off the internet. The male complainant then made a report to the police and an undercover operation on August 27 was established to nab Oates.

When Oates was caught, he was led to premises on Homestead Avenue in the Kingston 3 area, where several SIM and memory cards as well as laptops and other electronic devices had been recovered. When he was cautioned, he reportedly told the arresting officer, "Since mi a cooperate and admit to it, you can be lenient?"

serious offence

His attorney denied the allegations brought against Oates and asked that bail be granted to her client as he is the sole caregiver of his infant children and sister. However, Senior Resident Magistrate Georgiana Fraser told the attorney that, "his offence is more serious than a man robbing her of her handbag" and denied him bail.

Interestingly, Oates has a previous conviction of larceny as a servant.

Oates has been charged under the Cyber Crimes Act and Larceny Act and is to return to court in mid-September at which point the resident magistrate will hear another application for bail.