Iowa woman accused of blackmailing '19 Kids'

DAVENPORT, Iowa — An Iowa woman has been charged with extortion in an alleged plot to get Discovery Communications Inc. to cancel the TLC show “19 Kids and Counting” or pay her $10,000.

The woman is accused of threatening to release photos of a cast member in “apparently intimate situations” to a magazine.

Teresa Hunt, of Bettendorf, is charged in U.S. District Court in Davenport with one count of extortion.

According to an affidavit, Hunt sent a letter in January to the parent company of TLC describing a musician and providing details of an affair with a cast member. The program is about a family with 19 children.

Hunt was arrested Feb. 1. There is no telephone listing for her. A call to her attorney, Jack Dusthimer wasn't returned Monday.