Avon police intern faces charges of cyberstalking, attempted kidnapping and child pornography

An Avon police intern is facing multiple federal charges – including attempted kidnapping and cyberstalking – as well as multiple child pornography charges.

Casey Medina, 33, of Rochester was arrested on state charges in August by the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office at the Rural Police Training Academy in Livingston County. Federal prosecutors say Medina talked about kidnapping, drugging and raping a victim and tried to get someone to help harass the victim.

The charge carries a minimum prison sentence of five years and a maximum of 20 years.

According to U.S. Attorney Katelyn Hartford, the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office was contacted in May by a 31-year-old woman who reported receiving text messages from unknown numbers that included photos depicting her face and various pornographic images superimposed. She reported being threatened with kidnapping, rape, sexual abuse and death by unknown people. She told investigators the messages occurred over the course of about 26 days and then sporadically throughout June and July.

In August, police received a tip from someone who said he had been communicating on social media with someone with the username “credal.” According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, this person, later identified as Medina, was looking for someone who was harassing the victim and provided her personal information – including her place of work, home address, cell phone number and more. The whistleblower showed police several screenshots, including discussions about the woman’s abduction, drugging and rape. An undercover agent began communicating with Medina online and talked about the same thing.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, investigators executed a search warrant for Medina’s cellphone and recovered conversations about kidnapping, drug use and rape, as well as images and videos of child pornography that Medina had shared online.