Rita’s On-Line Blackmail Backfires

Men flirted shamelessly with “Rita” in America Online’s “Married But Looking” computer chat line. The typed chatter often got steamy, and she even offered them provocative photos of herself.

But some men found that “she” was a “he” - with printed copies of their explicit exchanges and blackmail on his mind.

Veterinarian Ron Hornbaker, 29, of Shawnee Mission, Kan., pleaded guilty to extortion Tuesday. He faces two years in prison and fines up to $250,000.

“It’s an old crime, just new tools,” said assistant U.S. Attorney John McKenzie, who prosecuted the case in Rockford, Ill.

In August 1995, Hornbaker created an America Online profile of himself as a married woman named Rita, authorities say. He would log into “Married But Looking” or similar areas and engage males in typed conversation. After a while, he would ask them to go to a private chat room “to get to know each other better.”

There Rita would engage each man in erotic conversation, asking the victim to get her “hot” and offering a sexy photograph.

Hornbaker stored the conversation and printed out transcripts.

Victims awaiting the nude photograph instead got a threatening letter. In it, Hornbaker - now posing as Rita’s enraged husband - said he’d found a transcript of the conversation between the victim and Rita.

Hornbaker set up boxes at private mail services to handle the bribes, usually between $500 and $2,000.

None of the recipients paid him.