Sextortion is a crime that can happen to anyone.
That was the message during a presentation about the crime held at the Conference Center at the Fairway Inn and Suites in Mishicot yesterday.
Sextortion is a form of child sexual exploitation where children are threatened or blackmailed, often with the possibility of sharing the public nude or sexual images of them by a person who then demands payments to keep them from being spread.
Usually, female teens are exploited for their image, while boys are exploited for their money.
The event was hosted by Mishicot Police Chief Paul Granger and organized by the Yindra Family, who felt the issue was important enough to discuss in the community.
Granger told SeehaferNews.com what he hopes residents would get out of it.
“Understanding how these scams work,” he stated. “I think once our potential victims understand what theses criminals can do and how they develop. The criminals lose their power when people understand that, how to respond to that, and what to look for.”
Keynote Speaker John DeMay of Michigan would give a candid and personal presentation about his experience with sextortion after his son Jordan took his own life in 2022.
He first talked about how it can all start with a simple friend request.
“You accept their friend request, they start having a conversation with you, they build a report, they groom you,” he said. “You think you’re having this friendship from wherever. And then they’ll do a picture exchange eventually. They’ll entice you by sending a nude image of themselves asking for your nude image back. And then, they extort you for money.”
John then told the story of Jordan, an athlete who was very popular at school.
But then, he met a “woman” named Dani before a trip to Florida.
After some back and forth, nude images were exchanged by the two, and the threat to spread the images to family and friends was sent to Jordan from the extortionists.
John described, “With this message that says, ‘I screenshot all your followers and tags can send these nudes to everyone and also send your nudes to your family and friends until it goes viral. All you have to do is cooperate with me, and I won’t expose you.’”
Jordan would send some money he had, but would eventually be sent another threat before he took his life in the early morning hours.
After he was found, an investigation led to the arrest of seven Nigerians and six Americans, with some being sentenced to federal prison for Jordan’s death.
DeMay then talked about the dangers of social media and young children, how AI is making it worse, but finished by saying it’s important that parents watch what their children are doing.
A question-and-answer panel with members from the Wisconsin DOJ and local law enforcement was held following John’s presentation.
One of the questions parents asked is what signs there could be if their child has become a victim of sexual extortion.
Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Detective Brandon Radke said parents need to watch their children for signs.
“If they start hiding their phone from you or their shutting their screen or muting it when you walk into a room,” he explained. “If they’re very lively, outgoing individuals and they start becoming a shell of themselves, becoming real inward, that’s probably going to be also a big indicator.”
If a child becomes a victim of sextortion, Mishicot Police Detective James Brooks says a child should stop communicating with the suspect, talk to a trusted adult, and then report the account.
Children can also go to takeitdown.ncmec.org to have pictures taken down. More information can be found at wisdoj.gov.
