Buraidah’s criminal court sentenced a 30-year-old man to eight years in prison and 800 lashes for blackmailing women.

The lashes will be administered at three different high-profile locations; twice at a mall and once at a phone market and a restaurant complex each.

The convict has confessed to extorting about 100 girls and women.

The defendant would get acquainted with the vulnerable victims via social networking sites and mobile phones.

After having gained access to their photos, the blackmailer would threaten to publish the photos if his victims didn’t pay him money. 

Penal measures included confiscating the man's cell phones and imposing a fine of SR80,000.

The crime came to light when one of the female victims filed a complaint stating that a young man was blackmailing her with photos that he was in possession of.

The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Buraidah arrested the criminal after setting up an undercover operation to catch him.

The judge handling the case then became suspicious of corruption crimes involving the lawyer of the defendant.

The crime was later proved and the judge sentenced the lawyer to two months in prison and banned him from defending other defendants.