Blackfoot man bound on sexual exploitation charges
Shae James Rolfe of Blackfoot waived his preliminary hearing in Bingham County Magistrate Court Thursday on charges of sexual battery of a minor child aged 16 or 17, sexual exploitation of a child and sexual exploitation by possession of materials obtained over the internet, by photo or video.
Rolfe will appear for District Court arraignment on October 9. He was being held in the Bingham County Jail on $250,000 bond.
According to court documents, police began their investigation August 22. Electronic devices were seized during a search warrant search of his home on August 23.
According to reports, Rolfe contacted over 100 minor children between April 21 and June 17, 2018. He promised to pay the children $5,000 if they sent him videos every day for two weeks. After Rolfe received the sexually exploitive material from the children, he would threaten to post the material on social media pages, according to the probable cause investigation. He did that by threatening to sue the children for breach of contract.
The report said Rolfe was posing as a female by the name of Judith who was 16 to 18 years old.
The specific victim in the Bingham County case is a female from Roy, Utah, who sent Rolf 27 sexually exploitive videos. When she decided not to continue, she offered to pay Rolfe and threatened to commit suicide. According to a probable cause statement, several children did the same.
Rolfe’s case was investigated by Idaho’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. According to the Idaho Attorney General’s Office, their investigation is continuing.
If found guilty, Rolfe could face up to 25 years in prison and $50,000 fine on the first count, 30 years in prison and $50,000 fine on the second count and 10 years in prison and $10,000 fine on count three.
