Booking photo for Kyle A. Balls (Courtesy: Cache County Jail).
LOGAN — A 23-year-old Hyde Park man has been sentenced to jail for blackmailing a woman, to try and force her into continuing a relationship with him. Kyle A. Balls was ordered to serve 90 days in jail after being arrested over a year ago, when officers reportedly found photos and a video of the woman on his phone.
Court records show, Balls was sentenced in 1st District Court Tuesday morning. He previously accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to sexual extortion, a third-degree felony.
Balls sent messages to the victim, threatening to send inappropriate pictures of her to others, if she did not continue to have a relationship with him. He later sent a video of the victim to her new boyfriend and continued to text her, saying he would send more photos to other people as well.
In November, Judge Thomas Willmore ruled that police officers violated Balls’ constitutional rights, when they took his cellphone without a warrant.
Even though the court tossed out the suspect’s phone as evidence, prosecutors had material from the victim’s boyfriend, who received the video from Balls. It showed the woman in various stages of undress and engaged in various sex acts.
During Tuesday’s sentencing, Judge Willmore ordered Balls to be taken into custody immediately and sentenced to serve three months in jail. He was also given work release.
will@cvradio.com