Woman charged with blackmail of gay resident

Enid News & Eagle ,Enid ,OK

Staff Writer

ENID, Okla. — A 19-year-old Enid woman was charged Monday with several felonies after she and her jailed boyfriend attempted to blackmail a gay Enid resident via Facebook, records show.

Haley B. Adkerson is charged with counts of blackmail, conspiracy to commit a felony and child neglect following her arrest last week.

Adkerson is accused of blackmailing an Enid resident last week for $500 or she and her boyfriend would reveal the resident was “a homosexual,” according to an affidavit.

Adkerson faces up to life in prison and a $5,000 fine on the child neglect charge, up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine on the blackmail charge and up to 10 years in prison and a $5,000 fine on the conspiracy charge.

According to an affidavit filed in the case, Enid Police Department received a report at 3:47 p.m. July 6 from an Enid resident.

Police were told a man was threatening to reveal the resident’s secret “homosexual lifestyle on Facebook” unless the man was paid $500, according to an affidavit.

On July 7, Sgt. Bryan Hart contacted the resident. The resident told Hart the blackmailer was a former high school classmate contacted via Facebook earlier in the year. The resident said the man was requesting $500 or the man would reveal the resident’s orientation on the social networking site.

The man continued to threaten the resident after being asked to stop, according to the affidavit.

Hart spoke with the resident again July 8. The resident said the man still was making contact via text message. A handwritten note was found in the resident’s mailbox after work that day.

Hart began using the resident’s phone to communicate with the man and set up a controlled meeting, according to the affidavit. A meeting was set for that afternoon at United Supermarket, 1010 W. Willow.

Once at the supermarket, Hart texted the man and described the vehicle color and type, according to the affidavit. The vehicle was actually occupied by two Narcotics Unit members. Hart was directed by the man to drive to the west of Bank of Oklahoma and “give the money to my partner,” according to an affidavit.

A woman pulled up near the vehicle containing the two Narcotics Unit members and was identified as Adkerson. She was detained at the scene, according to an affidavit.

Adkerson told Hart later she was speaking with her boyfriend and he told her he was speaking with the resident. She said he boyfriend instructed her to go to the meeting and pick up the money, according to the affidavit.

Adkerson was placed under arrest on a complaint of conspiracy to commit a felony. She had her two children, ages 3 and 5, in the car with her.

Hart interviewed Adkerson at Enid Police Department following her arrest.

Adkerson told Hart the name of her boyfriend and said he was in the custody of Department of Corrections but was being held in the Jefferson County jail.

Hart said the investigation into Adkerson’s boyfriend has been forwarded to the district attorney’s office.

Adkerson told Hart her boyfriend told her to go to the meeting to pick up the money, according to the affidavit, and earlier had her leave a note on the mailbox of the Enid resident.