SC man charged with trying to extort $100,000, SLED says. Here’s what he allegedly did

The caller is alleged to have said, “For $100,000, I’ll go away” after repeated calls, text messages and social media messages over the course of several weeks in June.

Now, a Boiling Springs man is facing charges of blackmail, harassment and unlawful communication.

The South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division said 24-year-old Cameron Elliott Paterson was charged with two counts of harassment – 2nd degree and two counts of unlawful communication on July 2 and blackmail/extortion on July 6.

The allegations were reported to the Spartanburg Police Department, which in turn asked SLED to investigate.

Paterson remained in the Spartanburg County Detention Center Wednesday. Bond was set a $1,000 for the harassment charges and $250,000 for extortion/blackmail.

The case will be prosecuted by the 7th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.

The warrants say the repeated calls and texts were made between June 5 and June 30. In some instances numerous phone numbers were used.

The victim told Paterson multiple times to stop calling, according to the warrant.

“The communications were unwanted and served no legitimate purposes constituting a substantial and unreasonable intrusion into the victim’s private life resulting in mental and emotional distress,” the warrants say.

One warrant says the victim was contacted via a “phone call, and compelling the victim to do an act with the intent to extort money from the victim by stating, “For $100,000, I’ll go away.”

SLED’s news release did not say how the two knew each other.