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Man Charged With Extortion In Alleged Masseuse Blackmail Plot

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A man is facing charges, accused of blackmailing another man, allegedly conning him out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Daniel Taylor, 31, is now in jail on a charge of extortion. He and a woman companion lived in in a first-floor apartment in the 1500 block of Lowrie Street in the city's Troy Hill neighborhood.

daniel-taylor
(Source: Allegheny County)

Their next-door neighbor said she was shocked by Taylor's arrest.

Jean McBeth told KDKA-TV News, "Oh my gosh, I didn't expect anything like that at all."

South Fayette Township Police say they became aware of the alleged extortion plot a few days ago when the victim showed up at the police station.

The alleged victim said he visited a website searching for a gay masseuse, and found an advertisement with Taylor's name.

The blackmail target said he and Taylor met about a dozen times - either at the extended-stay Comfort Inn motel on McKnight Road in Ross Township, or at a home in the Mount Lebanon area - over the period of about a month.

According to the police criminal complaint, the victim first gave Taylor $6,000, then, $4,000.

The victim then reportedly told Taylor he couldn't give him any more money, and the two should just go their separate ways.

Taylor became angry, according to South Fayette Police, and threatened to send text messages between he and his client, and even a compromising video to the victim's family.

Over the past three years, Taylor, according to the victim who was not identified, was was extorted out of an estimated $300,000.

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