Tenant arrested for alleged sexual acts on owner's child as part of blackmail scheme | Local News

A man was indicted Thursday on four criminal charges for allegedly groping and making sexual videos of his landlord's child as part of an extortion and blackmail scheme.Justin Christie, 42, faces one count each of criminal sexual contact with a minor, aggravated stalking, attempted extortion and voyeurism, according to a criminal complaint filed in Chaves County Magistrate Court.“He (Christie) admitted that he was going to use the videos/photos to blackmail and/or extort the child's mother because he did not want to pay rent and start a war,” states the criminal complaint from Christie, who lived in a cabin on this same property.The complaint also said Christie intended to continue groping and recording sexually suggestive videos of the girl "until he had enough to do as he wanted."On Thursday, the girl's mother learned of Christie's alleged conduct after a loud noise prompted her to check her interior cameras.“She indicated that when she checked her cameras, she saw Justin Christie in the living room, standing over her sleeping daughter,” the complaint states. When she looked at the footage more closely, she noticed that Christie appeared to have her phone turned off while the girl was being recorded.Christie allegedly ran out of the house and returned to his accommodation. The mother took a screenshot of Christie's security camera footage. When police arrived at the property, they found Christie and secured her phone.The complaint says police saw video of the girl's buttocks while she was sleeping on the couch.According to the complaint, other recordings showed Christie massaging or groping the girl, or exposing and touching himself while standing over the sleeping child or zooming in on certain areas of the girl's body while that she was walking around the house dressed.Christie later told detectives he was placing a “curse” on the girl and her mother that would cause them “pain and trauma.”Electronic court records indicate the Chaves County magistrate judge set bond for Christie at $20,000 after he appeared in court Friday.No attorney for Christie was listed in court records Friday afternoon.