On Tuesday, September 11, 2018 the Howard County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by Russ Rutledge in reference to a scam. Rutledge advised that he had been contacted by a female, Lucia Hernandez, via Facebook messenger. Hernandez made attempts to convince Rutledge that he knew her personally. After a short period of time Rutledge was told to send $4800.00 to Hernandez or she would send out videos of him to his friends and known people showing he was a pedophile. Rutledge refused to pay and reported the incident to the Sheriff’s Office.
On Wednesday, September 12, 2018 the Facebook account of Lucia Hernandez began sending videos depicting Rutledge in compromising situations. The Howard County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed these videos are fake and were used in an attempt to extort money from Rutledge.
The Howard County Sheriff’s Office is currently working with Department of Homeland Security to track the origin of the videos and the identity of the person or persons responsible for the Facebook hack.
This investigation is ongoing and we are working diligently to resolve this case as quickly as possible.
Howard County
Sheriff Stan Parker
