SHAMOKIN - A Shamokin woman charged with attempting to extort $2,000 from a man by falsely accusing him of having sexual contact with her two daughters 25 years ago waived her right to a preliminary hearing Tuesday morning before Magisterial District Judge John Gembic III.
Kathryn Reeder, 57, of 217 S. Shamokin St., waived to court misdemeanors of theft by extortion and harassment relating to incidents that occurred between Feb. 15 and March 2. The charges
were filed by Coal Township Detective Jeff Brennan.
Gembic ordered Reeder to appear for arraignment April 18 at Northumberland County Courthouse in Sunbury, where she can plead guilty or no contest, or seek a trial by pleading not guilty.
The theft by extortion offense carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and/or $10,000 fine. The harassment charge carries a maximum penalty of one year imprisonment and/or $2,500 fine.
Reeder, who is free on $5,000 bail, was represented by Northumberland County Public Defender Michael Romance.
Lester Bloom, co-owner and operator of Bloom Heating Oil, 854 Center St., Tharptown, who is the victim in the case, was not present for the proceeding.
According to a criminal complaint filed by Brennan, Reeder called Bloom at his business on Feb. 15 and accused him of having inappropriate sexual contact with her two teenage daughters approximately 25 years ago. Bloom told Reeder she was a sick woman before hanging up the telephone, police said.
Bloom said less than a minute later, Reeder called him again and warned him not to hang up on her or she was going to report her false accusations to the Northumberland County District Attorney's Office. Bloom said Reeder gave him until the end of the day to "take care" of the situation and continued to be irate towards him on the telephone before the conversation ended.
On Feb. 23, Bloom received another call from Reeder, who told him, "You had enough time to think about this. What's it worth to you?"
At this point, Bloom asked Reeder what she wanted, to which she replied, "You tell me." Bloom said the conversation then ended.
On the same day, authorization was obtained by the district attorney's office to do a "consensual intercept" of the telephone conversation between Bloom and Reeder. At 3:30 p.m. Feb. 23, Bloom placed a call to Reeder. During the conversation, Reeder threatened to ruin Bloom's business by releasing the false accusations about him involving her two daughters. Reeder also requested an unspecified monetary payment to resolve the issue.
At 3:15 p.m. Feb. 24, Bloom placed another recorded call to Reeder in which Reeder asked Bloom to give her money to make "the issue go away." Bloom asked Reeder specifically how much money she wanted, at which time Reeder said she wanted $2,000 in cash. Reeder told Bloom to contact her when he had the money.
On March 1, Bloom contacted Reeder and advised her that he had the money she requested. Reeder requested Bloom meet her at Weis Markets in Shamokin at 5 p.m. March 2.
That day, Coal Township Police gave Bloom a marked envelope to be used in the transaction. At approximately 4:30 p.m., Bloom was observed by police meeting with Reeder in the parking lot at Weis Markets and giving her the marked envelope. After the transaction, Reeder walked away before being stopped by police.