BATON ROUGE- A man is behind bars for allegedly bullying a 13-year-old girl into an inappropriate online relationship and blackmailing her with violent threats, according to the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office.

Brenden Joseph Medlock, 18, is facing a slew of felony charges after detectives uncovered evidence of illegal activity with a minor dating back to August 2020. Medlock had just been released from a juvenile detention center at the time, and the child he was interacting with online was 12 years old.

The minor told authorities she met Medlock on Instagram and was coerced into sharing explicit photos and videos with him.

Arrest records say Medlock threatened the child with physical harm and blackmail, telling her there were bombs planted in her Idaho home that would be detonated if they were to break up.

Detectives said when the minor would not respond to Medlock immediately, he would send her threatening messages, including "time for you to die now."

Between August and October 2020, Medlock reportedly tried to coerce the child into traveling across the country to meet him at his home in Baton Rouge. The minor was told to take her grandmother's credit card and purchase a Greyhound Bus ticket, which she eventually did.

The Twin Falls Police Department responded to reports of a runaway juvenile Oct. 28 after the child's grandmother reported the bus ticket charge. Detectives were able to track down the bus heading to Baton Rouge and stopped it in Denver, Colorado. The minor was taken back to her grandmother's home in Idaho.

The child told authorities she had been exchanging inappropriate videos and pictures with the Baton Rouge man since she was 12 years old, though officials were not able to obtain the evidence at the time as her SIM card was destroyed when she got home from the bus trip.

The two were still communicating at the time, and when a detective reached out to Medlock for questioning, he reportedly hung up the phone immediately.

In January 2021, the minor said she broke up with Medlock after learning he was in another relationship and had gotten a woman pregnant.

Medlock then allegedly sent the child's nude photos and videos to several of her family members and told her to kill and harm herself, and described ways to do so.

Following the breakup, a teacher at the minor's school in Twin Falls Idaho contacted the resource officer with a concern for the child's wellbeing after discovering the text messages with Medlock.

The school's resource officer contacted the child's grandmother about the text exchange, which included nude images and videos. The grandmother then told authorities that her husband, as well as the child's father, had received similar explicit images and discussed the runaway incident that occurred in October 2020.

A forensic interview was conducted in March of 2021 and a cellphone extraction was completed in October. Based on the subpoena served to T-Mobile, authorities were able to confirm Medlock's Baton Rouge phone number and address.

After phone extractions, a forensic interview, and evidence notated in reports conducted by several law enforcement agencies in both Idaho and Louisiana and an arrest warrant was issued.

Brenden Joseph Medlock was arrested on Wednesday, Jan. 19 and booked on the following felony charges:

- Pornography involving juveniles (production)
- Pornography involving juveniles (distribution)
- Computer-aided solicitation of a minor
- Indecent behavior with juveniles
- Communicating of false information of planned arson
- Simple kidnapping
- Cyberbullying
- Cyberstalking/Electronic mail
- Contributing to the delinquency of juveniles
- Terrorizing