University sophomore Andrew Ross Levitz, 20, faces four criminal charges resulting from alleged improper activity on Myspace.com and could face additional ones as the investigation continues.

Levitz, a pre-pharmacy student, was arrested Saturday at his apartment and was released Monday on a $26,000 bond from Forsyth County jail.

He has been charged with theft by extortion, sexual exploitation of children, electronically furnishing obscene material to minors and second degree forgery for the possession of a counterfeit ID card.

The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office received a complaint in mid-March from a female under 18 years of age who said she was contacted by someone on Myspace.com claiming to be a 19-year-old female, according to Forsyth County Detective Jeff Roe.

Roe, who is investigating the case, said the supposed 19-year-old, under false pretenses, eventually asked the minor for nude photographs of herself.

The 19-year-old turned out to be Levitz, Roe said. “Levitz basically impersonated a female.”

When the victim agreed to send the requested photographs, which were taken at age 16, Roe said Levitz revealed his identity and through a series of threats, tried to extort sex from the minor in exchange for him not disseminating the photographs.

However, when the female did not agree, Roe said Levitz sent the nude pictures to the victim’s Myspace.com friends, who were fifteen and sixteen year olds.

Rowe who is a task force agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and serves with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, said he has been investigating the case for “a couple of weeks.”

Through a “series of events,” and with the assistance of Myspace.com, Roe said investigators pegged Levitz as the suspect and, consequently, police obtained a search warrant for his residence, Apt. 305, 580 E. Broad St.

The Forsyth sheriff’s office, in conjunction with the Athens-Clarke County Sex Crimes Unit, obtained five computers and a webcam from the apartment, Roe said. The investigation continues due to the possibility of additional victims, he added.

When any University student is arrested, the situation is referred to the Office of Judicial Programs, University spokesman Tom Jackson said.

Kim Ellis, dean of Judicial Programs, said she heard only of the arrest but did not know the circumstances surrounding it.

Judicial Programs first evaluates the circumstances surrounding the arrest and determines if the individual violated the University’s Code of Conduct to decide if the University will take any action against the individual, Ellis said.

Jackson said no action by the University has been taken against Levitz, pending the investigation of the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office.