Niles man gets 27-year sentence for extorting porn from teen girl

A 27-year prison sentence was handed down Tuesday to a former New York University law student who pleaded guilty to extorting child pornography from a teenage girl by threatening to humiliate and shame her online.

U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman acceded to federal prosecutors’ requests that David J. Cottrell, 31, receive a lengthy sentence. Cottrell’s attorneys asked for a 15-year sentence, insisting their client needs treatment for pedophilia, depression, substance abuse and other mental health issues.

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Cottrell, who most recently lived in Niles, Illinois, pleaded guilty in March 2020 to sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography. Cottrell was in law school when he first made contact with his seventh-grade victim on a free online chat website in 2014.

Prosecutors say the teen sent nude pictures to Cottrell at his request. He later threatened to distribute her nude photographs online or send them to people she knew if she did not send him more sexually explicit images.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Mulaney alleged Cottrell blackmailed the girl from age 13 to 16 despite the girl’s repeated requests that he stop. The girl’s parents discovered the extortion in the summer of 2017 when they took her cellphone and found Cottrell’s messages.