Man on Crawford extortion charge

Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber have two children together

A German man has been charged with trying to extort money from former supermodel Cindy Crawford over a photo of her daughter.

The US Attorney's Office in Los Angeles said Edis Kayalar, 26, - who has been deported to Germany - had threatened to hand the picture to the media.

The photo was apparently taken by Crawford's former nanny and shows the girl, then aged seven, tied to a chair.

It is thought it was taken as part of a "cops and robbers" game.

The picture came into the hands of Mr Kayalar, a friend of the nanny, court papers say.

He is accused of threatening to make the picture public, unless Crawford and her husband Rande Gerber handed over $100,000 (£59,873).

Mr Kayalar, who was arrested in September and deported to Germany for being in the US illegally, faces up to two years in prison if found guilty of extortion.

In a statement, Crawford's publicist Annett Wolf said: "Rande Gerber and Cindy Crawford intend to pursue any and all available legal action against anyone who aids the perpetrator in the distribution or sale of the photograph of their daughter."

Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the US Attorney's Office, said US prosecutors were "in contact with Germany authorities concerning the matter."

Crawford, 43, who has been married to Gerber since 1998, has been on the cover of hundreds of magazine titles worldwide, and this year she launched a home style collection.