"Sextortion" Charges For Bensalem Man Linked To Suicide: DA

BENSALEM, PA — Ian Pisarchuk, 25, was arrested last Tuesday at his home on Skyline Drive based on police investigation into an IP address used to harass multiple young people online. Pisarchuk admitted, according to an affidavit, to using several different names on Snapchat to harass and extort underage and adult women. He has also been linked to a Bucks County woman’s suicide in 2016.

Pisarchuk was arraigned Tuesday night on multiple felony counts according to Fred Harran, Director of Public Safety with the Bensalem Police Department, who hosted a press conference on Wednesday. Bail has been set at $2 million.

The charges include: enticing a minor to produce child pornography, possession of child pornography, sexual exploitation, stalking, unlawful contact with a minor, terroristic threats, dissemination of obscene/sexual material to a minor, corruption of minors, and criminal use of a communication facility.

Police were able to arrest Pisarchuk after they received a complaint from one young woman that a Snapchat user had attempted to extort her for nude images. When questioned, Pisarchuk admitted to using explicit images, both actual and alleged, to extort his victims via the popular photo- and video-sharing platform. Four victims between the ages of 12 and 19 are known to the police at this time.

“He threatened to harm them and their families if they did not comply with his demands,” Harran said. “This continued for years.”

Detectives have also linked Pisarchuk to the suicide of 21-year-old Lindsey Piccone in 2016. While the IP address of an individual extorting Piccone was linked to Kutztown University, at the time the address remained too broad to track. Now, Pisarchuk — a student at the university between 2014 and 2018 — has admitted that he was in contact with Piccone on Snapchat before her death, and had threatened her into sending sexually explicit images.

"I hurt Lindsey and forced her into an awful situation," he wrote in a letter to her family, according to the affidavit.

When asked whether or not the police department believed homicide or manslaughter charges possible against Pisarchuk, District Attorney Matthew Weintraub explained that investigation into possible charges in Piccone's death is still in process.

“Everything is on the table, but that is not where the evidence has put us at this time,” he said.

Weintraub partly credits the state program Safe2Say Something with empowering students and young people who have been abused or witnessed abuse to come forward. The “youth violence prevention program” allows submission of anonymous tips and offers a hotline.

Those with information relating to the investigation are encouraged to contact the Bensalem Police Department at 215-633-3719.