CHARLOTTE AMALIE — A man was arrested on a slew of felony charges this weekend for allegedly demanding a young woman give him explicit photos, money and sex.
Jo’Vaughn Carey was arrested Sunday and charged with second-degree aggravated rape, first-degree unlawful sexual contact, obscene internet contact with a minor, visual medium depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a minor, child abuse and aggravated child abuse, the Virgin Islands Police Department said.
When the alleged victim, a girl in her late teens, went to police last April, she told them that her ordeal began in March 2022, when she was contacted over social media by someone using a pseudonym online. He reportedly told her that he was a 16-year old male, but his true identity was something she would “find out sooner or later,” she was informed.
Their conversation included a “series of personal questions,” according to police. Then, the person on the other end of the chat asked the girl to send him a photograph of her naked chest. The girl told police that after some hesitation, she did so, but did not include her face in the initial picture. The authenticity of the image was questioned, and so she sent another one, and this time showed her face in the explicit photograph. The person then reportedly informed her that he would be taking revenge on her for something she had done to him in the past. She told police that the threats began almost immediately: if she reported the situation to anyone, including the police, he would impose consequences.
The girl said that the person continued asking for nude photographs, contacting her on Snapchat via three different accounts, one of them named “jovoughn.” If she didn’t send new images, he reportedly said, he would publish the photos he already had, including the ones which reveal her identity. Fear of being exposed made her cooperative, the girl told police. In 2023, the demands escalated. “Jovoughn” began requesting cash, $50 at first, and then $80, $100, $180, $200, and $300. Following his instructions, the money would reportedly be left in “discreet locations” according to his instructions, or on several occasions handed over to a designated recipient. That recipient, the girl told police, was someone she had seen in uniform on the campus of the Charlotte Amalie High School.
She showed police a photo of the individual, and told them that she had also been coerced into having sex with him. In August 2023 her blackmailer contacted her on Snapchat and instructed her to go to an abandoned house the next day, where she was to meet someone for a sexual encounter. “It’s either that or get exposed,” she was reportedly told. She told police that she followed instructions, and met the same individual who had taken money from her. She said that she initially tried to make her lack of interest clear, but was coerced into sex when the person threatened to expose her. The sex act was recorded, ostensibly as evidence that she had complied with instructions.
The young woman’s ordeal continued until April 2024, when she was contacted once again with a demand for money. This time, she decided to confide in her mother, who in turn accompanied her to the police station to report what had been happening to her. The mental and emotional distress caused by this situation had been negatively affecting her daughter’s physical health, the mother told police.
Once they had seen the photograph, officers identified the person in the photograph as 19-year-old Jo’Voughn Carey, who they reportedly knew due to prior contact with law enforcement. Investigations revealed that Carey had crafted an elaborate scheme to trick the girl into thinking that there were two people involved in her blackmail – the person making the demands over social media and the man who she was being forced to have sex with.
In late April, police obtained an arrest warrant for Carey, who told officers that he was currently homeless. He was arrested on July 28 at his parents’ Estate Tutu residence.
Carey appeared before Magistrate Paula Norkaitis on August 11 for his advice of rights hearing. The judge found probable cause to bind him over for trial.
Bail for Carey was set at $105,000. He was permitted to post 10% of that amount to secure his release from pre-trial detention.
Once released, however, he will be subject to 24-hour house arrest with an electronic monitoring bracelet, as well as other bail conditions.
The next court appearance for Carey is scheduled for August 29.
