Cindy Crawford photo blackmailer jailed

A blackmailer who threatened supermodel Cindy Crawford over a photo of her seven-year-old daughter bound and gagged was jailed for two years today.

Edis Kayalar, 26, admitted trying to extort €99,000 from Crawford and her husband Rande Gerber last year using the picture, a court in the German town of Kirchheim unter Tech was told.

Kayalar, who got hold of the picture when he lived in the US, believed he could have received more than €331,000 from tabloids for the photograph and that he deserved more money from Crawford and her husband.

Kayalar said he “was not trying to destroy a little girl’s life, but the release of the photograph was not going to be something positive for the victims’ image,” according to the document.

The picture which showed the child gagged and tied to a chair was reportedly taken by a former nanny during a “cops and robbers” game.

Kayalar had an affair with the nanny and stole the photo from her last year, Judge Joachim Spieth said.

In July 2009, Gerber met Kayalar, paid him a thousand dollars “for his troubles” and got a print of the photo. But Kayalar came back asking for more.

After being deported to Germany from the US for an immigration violation, he upped his demands.

Because the money was never paid , Kayalar was sentenced only for attempted extortion.

The German court took up the case because Kayalar was in Kirchheim unter Tech when he demanded the money.

Crawford, who divorced actor Richard Gere in 1995, married Gerber in 1998. They have two children.