A 19-year-old California man is staring down more than 50 criminal charges after investigators say he used intimate images to extort and threaten a University of Pittsburgh student who had just moved to campus. The case unfolded after the student brought a stream of disturbing messages to campus police in January, triggering a wider probe by county and federal authorities.
Court documents reviewed by WPXI state that Michael Anthony Vaca of Hollister first connected with the woman in July 2025, when police say she was still a minor. According to the filings, the two exchanged intimate photos and videos before she began classes at Pitt last August. Investigators allege Vaca secretly recorded sexual material without her consent, then used those files to pressure and threaten her once she was living in Pittsburgh.
Charges filed in Allegheny County
According to WTAE, Vaca is facing more than 50 counts, including sexual extortion, stalking, terroristic threats and identity theft. Court filings quoted by the station say he threatened to send the explicit material to the student’s professor and family, threatened to call ICE on her relatives, and allegedly warned he would vandalize her parents’ home and hurt the family’s pet.
Felony and misdemeanor breakdown
Local prosecutors ultimately filed 37 felony counts and 18 misdemeanors, for a total of 55 charges, as WPXI reported. The criminal complaint also describes at least one attempted extortion in which the suspect allegedly demanded $40 in exchange for not releasing the images.
Campus police and federal task force joined the probe
After the student shared the threatening messages in January, the case was turned over to the University of Pittsburgh Police Department, which launched an investigation that pulled in the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force and Allegheny County police, according to WTAE. Investigators say they uncovered multiple online accounts tied to the suspect that were allegedly used specifically to harass the woman…