NBA champion Chris Andersen has had a roller-coaster ride in the NBA. Before he got his hands on the NBA title in 2013 alongside LeBron James and the Miami Heat, he had a troublesome time with the Denver Nuggets. Back in 2011, he got into a mess with a 17-year-old aspiring model in South California, Paris Dunn. However, at the time, Andersen and Dunn would eventually be victims of a Catfish scam.
At the time Dunn had 25k followers on Twitter, 87k fans on Facebook, and followed by 370k accounts on Instagram. She flirted with numerous pro athletes online, however, in doing so she faked her age. Dunn eventually caught the eye of the NBA champion, who was playing for the Nuggets. In 2011, both parties started chatting on Facebook. “Hey … I see you’re a fan,” Dunn Said, “but being 17, I was an excited girl,” Dunn Continued.
They conversed with each other on different online platforms and eventually started sharing selfies. “I was very excited because I was receiving them and seeing them back,” Dunn claimed. The two got close and shared more pictures and got to know Andersen’s pet dog, Hannibal. However, she received a message from a person named Tom Taylor, who claimed to be Chris’ best friend.
Dunn noticed something odd about Taylor’s area code and asked him about it. “He just said, ‘Oh it’s my Google number, you know, it’s all good. I’m just switching Google numbers, it’s online so people don’t get my number,’” she said. Dunn believed him and continued texting him.
Chris Andersen and Paris Dunn were set up in Denver for a meet
Chris Andersen and Paris Dunn’s relationship turned X-rated when they started sharing nude photos. Dunn continued sharing her photos with Andersen as she trusted him. “I trusted that it was him and I knew he wouldn’t do anything because of his position,” Dunn admitted. Taylor eventually suggested that Dunn should meet Chris in person. Paris accepted the invitation and Chris booked her tickets to Denver.
Before Dunn went on the trip she informed her mother about it. The pair met each other and went on their first date. However, Dunn became suspicious of the details about each other. “He said, ‘You told me you brought a lot of Victoria’s Secret stuff to wear for me.’ I said, ‘No I didn’t,’” Dunn said. “And then he was like, ‘When is your trip to Africa?’ I was like, ‘I’m not going on any trip. What are you talking about?” Dunn claimed.
Dunn eventually brought up Taylor, “I said, ‘Well Tom said’ … he was like, ‘Who’s Tom?’ I was like, ‘Your best friend.’ He was like, ‘I don’t know a Tom,’” Regardless she didn’t pay much attention to it and let it slide. The two continued to spend the weekend together at his house. Taylor texted Dunn asking for photos from Andersen’s house. To which she refused to share them with him.
After she flew back home, Taylor started texting her at 3:00 in the morning and was rude to her. At one point she started getting messages from Andersen and Taylor, who wanted her to take a trip to Indiana. “There was a gamer in Indiana, and they wanted me to fly to Indiana… pretend I was taking lessons about the game, and steal this guy’s gamer code and password,” Claimed Dunn. However, when she refused they got angry.
Paris Dunn received threats from Tom Taylor
Dunn mentioned her plans of going to Los Angeles to meet Blake Griffin. Following this, both Andersen and Taylor started sending her angry messages. Taylor passed her threats and abusive texts. “He said that he was going to send somebody down there … he was going to have me r*ped, and murdered, and thrown on the side of the street,” Dunn said. “Just because I was going to see Blake. Something just went and just set him off … I was scared. I did not like that,” Dunn added.
Eventually, Taylor threatened to leak her nude photos online after Andersen shared them with him. Tayloe threatened to share her name, address, and phone number along with the photos. Dunn immediately told her mother, who then called the police. After which Andersen was asked questions by the media who refused to speak without his attorney, Mark Bryant.
Andersen received a mail in 2012 during the playoffs. The sender of the Email claimed to be Dunn’s mother. She claimed to know about his meeting with Paris who is a 17-year-old. Bryant claimed that Andersen believed her to be an older woman and that she lied about it. The sender of the mail threatened to ruin Andersen’s career on grounds of child pornography in light of the nude photos.
In the state of Colorado, relations with a 17-year-old were legal, however, the photos could be considered illegal, as she was a minor and under 18. Bryant eventually transferred $3000 through PayPal to make the whole incident go away.
Shelly Chartier was caught after the police raided Chris Andersen’s home
For a couple of months, Bryant said that Chris Andersen hadn’t heard from the sender of the mail. However, one-day Douglas County’s Sheriff’s Department showed up. Along with the Sheriff’s department, the Internet Crimes Against Children Unit had showed up at Andersen’s home. They seized all electronic devices including computers and phones. Soon the raid main breaking news and Andersen was suspended from the Nuggets.
On the other hand, Dunn felt betrayed after Andersen leaked her nudes online and threatened her. However, the detectives dug deep into the incident and revealed that they were been communicating through a third party unknowingly. It was the same person who portrayed Tom Taylor and the Dunn’s mother. Dunn and Andersen were never in direct contact, and their messages were sent indirectly without their knowledge.
EXCLUSIVE: Shelly Chartier, 33, led away after receiving 18 months jail in #Easterville, Mb. (@jbryksa photo) #nba pic.twitter.com/f3XXvN4Hvt
— Wpg Free Press Photo (@FreepPhoto) October 14, 2015
Fake Facebook pages, fake phone numbers, and fake email addresses were found and the IP address was traced back to a small town in Easterville. It is where the authorities caught the culprit behind everything, Shelly Chartier. Chartier who at the time had been misleading and playing the same game with other people in the past 3 years. Shelly was also responsible for booking Dunn’s fight tickets which mentioned her age as 21. This led Andersen to believe that Dunn is not a minor.
Eventually, Andersen’s and Dunn’s relationship was revealed to the public and Andersen was declared as the victim and not the culprit in the case. Chartier pleaded guilty and spend 18 months in prison. She is now back home and on probation, where she is allowed to use the Internet under court supervision. “I just feel really bad for her,” Chartier said. “Because I basically used her in every way,” Chartier admitted after her release.