Stephen A. Dayton

A registered sex offender is accused of threatening to send naked photographs of a Middlesex Township woman to her family and friends because she would not meet with him.

Butler police said the victim's photos were on her cell phone that she apparently mislaid while in Butler and that Stephen A. Dayton found and refused to return.

Police on Wednesday arrested Dayton, 32, of Wampum, Lawrence County, on misdemeanor charges of theft of lost or mislaid property, stalking, theft by extortion and harassment.

At the time of his arrest, the defendant was already in Butler County Prison on charges he sent a nude photo of the same victim in July to one of her friends in Middlesex Township.

Police in Middlesex were first to arrest Dayton, and they shared their findings with Butler police.

The woman's ordeal began July 12, according to court documents, when she lost her phone outside a fast-food restaurant at the Pullman Square shopping plaza.

She subsequently got a new phone and kept her old phone number. Several days later, Butler police said, she began receiving text messages from an unknown number.

The unknown texter identified himself as Steve and he told the victim that he had found her phone while doing landscaping work.

Over a period of days, investigators said, Dayton repeatedly called and texted the woman and sent her nude photos of herself that were on her phone.

He also threatened “to send the photos to her friend and family,” documents said, “causing severe emotional distress to the victim.”

According to police, the woman admitted to police that she had nude photos of herself on the phone that she lost.

Police believe the defendant managed to bypass the phone's security, allowing him to pull the victim's contacts and photos from the device.

Dayton allegedly threaten to distribute the photos, Butler police said, “because (the woman) would not meet with him.”

Middlesex Township police first became aware of the matter on Aug. 3, when a friend of the woman reported receiving a nude photo of her from an unknown number.

Police in Middlesex spoke to the victim Aug. 4. On Aug. 6, they contacted Butler police to discuss their investigation.

Police in both departments got search warrants for the unknown phone number that came back to Dayton. Investigators also obtained transcripts of messages from that phone to the victim's phone.

The defendant in a later interview with Middlesex police Sgt. Randy Ruediger, documents said, admitted that he had the victim's phone and that he had sent her “multiple text messages.”

Middlesex police arrested him Aug. 23 on a misdemeanor charge of distribution of obscene materials and a summary charge of harassment.

On Tuesday, he waived those charges to court at his preliminary hearing before District Judge Sue Haggerty in Saxonburg.

District Judge William Fullerton on Wednesday arraigned Dayton on charges filed by Butler police. His preliminary hearing in that case is set Sept. 10.

He remains in the country jail on $25,000 bail and on a probation detainer stemming from his 2015 conviction in Greene County on charges of unlawful contact with a minor.

Cumberland Township police in that case accused Dayton of sending photos of himself to minors and attempting to meet up with those minors.

That conviction landed the defendant on the Megan's Law sex offender registry.