The Fieldstone Middle School student under arrest, who was not identified, was charged with use of a child in a sexual performance and promoting a sexual performance by a child.
Officials say six victims have come forward, but investigators have reason to believe there are potentially several hundred additional victims.
The investigation began in February when the six students came forward to a school resource officer.
The male victims had been communicating on social media with who they thought was a female who asked for sexually explicit material.
"They were requested for pictures, videos of themselves, to be sent and then they were requested that if they didn't sent more that the pictures and videos would be sent to their friend groups," said Det. Andrew Kryger.
In reality, it was a male student who demanded payment in the form of gift cards, for typically less than $100.
Police say the victims had no idea who they were communicating with and it took police some time to figure out the person behind it all was local.
"A lot of these cases they end up out of the state, out of the country mostly, so it was a little unusual and troubling," Kryger said.
The student who had been out of the country for a time did not return to the school this fall. He was arrested last week.
Fieldstone is a large regional middle school with 1,300 students which is why investigators suspect there could be far more victims who fell prey to the scam.
Police are urging parents to talk to their children and have judgment-free conversations.
"Please encourage your children to come forward because there is certainly no shame in coming forward and bringing this to a trusted adult, so please let us know, let a trusted adult know," said North Rockland Central School District Superintendent Kris Felicello.
The department and school district plan to host sextortion awareness forums for students in the coming days.
Any student or parent with information is asked to contact police at 845-786-2422.
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