Kansas man pleads to blackmailing ex-girlfriend

? A 20-year-old Kansas man faces nearly three years in prison after pleading no contest to blackmailing a former girlfriend to get her to send him provocative pictures of herself.

Todd Murphy, of Hutchinson, was originally charged with sexual exploitation of a child for a September 2010 incident involving a 16-year-old girl.

The Hutchinson News reports that Murphy pleaded Wednesday to the lesser charge, which was amended by Reno County district attorney Keith Schroeder after he spoke with the girl’s family.

Schroeder says Murphy hacked into the girl’s email account and obtained a picture of her in a swimsuit that she sent to her current boyfriend. The prosecutor says Murphy threatened to post the picture on the Web unless the girl sent him more provocative pictures of herself.

Sentencing is scheduled July 20.