SUNBURY - The 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 pleaded guilty Monday morning to a misdemeanor of theft by extortion in front of Northumberland County President Judge Robert B. Sacavage.
Kathryn Reeder, 57, of 217 S. Shamokin St., was sentenced to two years probation and a fine of $300. She was also ordered to not have any contact with the victim.
The incidents against Lester Bloom, co-owner and operator of Bloom Heating Oil, 854 Center St., Tharptown, occurred between Feb. 15 and March 2.
The charges were filed by Coal Township Detective Jeff Brennan.
According to a criminal complaint, 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 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.
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. 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. 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.