Cindy Crawford

The man at the center of an alleged $100,000 extortion plot involving model Cindy Crawford has turned himself in, police in his native Germany said.

Edis "Eddie" Kayalar, 26, is accused of trying to pressure Crawford and her husband, Rande Gerber, into paying the sum in exchange for a photo of their then-7-year-old daughter reportedly bound to a chair and wearing revealing clothing.

The picture is said to have been snapped by her nanny during a game of cops and robbers, then stolen by Kayalar from the babysitter's home.

Kayalar was deported from the United States to Germany after Crawford and Gerber filed a complaint, but allegedly continued to harass the famous couple.

He was charged with one count of extortion last week.

The Los Angeles Times said Kayalar surrendered at a Stuttgart police station Monday.

"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," People.com quoted a statement from the couple's representative as saying.

Police have searched an apartment believed to belong to a man accused of attempting to blackmail Cindy Crawford.

German officers reportedly seized a number of items from the property just outside of Stuttgart over the weekend, but would not confirm if they belonged to Edis Kayalar, who is accused of demanding $100,000 from the supermodel and her husband Rande Greber.

The 26-year-old suspect - who was deported back to Germany last month following his arrest - allegedly stole a photograph from the couple's nanny, which depicted their daughter Kaia, then seven, tied to a chair with a gag in her mouth and threatened to make the image public if they didn't pay the money.

In a statement, Cindy's spokeswoman 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."

According to the documents, Kaia - who is now eight - told her parents the photo, which they had been unaware of, was taken during a "cops and robbers" game with the nanny.

A German man has been charged with trying to extort $100,000 from former supermodel Cindy Crawford and her husband over a photo of their daughter gagged and bound to a chair, authorities said.

Edis Kayalar, the man at the center of the probe, was charged in federal court in Los Angeles on Thursday, but he was recently deported back to Germany and has not been arrested.

The photo was apparently snapped by the then 7-year-old's nanny as a private joke when she was playing "cops and robbers" with the girl, and it came into the hands of Kayalar, who was the nanny's friend, according to court documents.

This past summer, Kayalar contacted Crawford and her husband Rande Gerber, who did not know about the photo, and sought to use it to get money from them, saying tabloids would pay a lot, the court papers said.

The couple contacted authorities, prompting Los Angeles police to launch a criminal probe.

Kayalar was arrested in September and deported to Germany for being in the country illegally, but earlier this month he again phoned Crawford and Gerber and demanded $100,000, which lead to him being charged with extortion.

U.S. authorities said they are in contact with German officials about the case. Kayalar faces up to two years in prison if returned to the United States and convicted.

In a statement, a publicist for Crawford said that she and her husband "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."

Celebrity Web site TMZ.com reported that it was approached about six weeks ago by a man it believed was Kayalar. He offered to sell the photo, but TMZ passed.

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.

She also starred in the 1995 film "Fair Game," and more recently has appeared in several television shows.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis: Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Jackie Frank)