Sextortion is a relatively new form of sexual exploitation. It is when someone obtains sexual images of another person and uses them to blackmail. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) has been tracking sextortion of children through their CyberTipline since 2013 and is seeing a dramatic increase in this new crime.
Between October 2013 and April 2016, NCMEC’s CyberTipline received 1428 reports of sextortion of a minor. This number is probably higher today. 78% of the victims were girls. The youngest was 8 years old.
Like other sexual crimes, sextortion is under reported. In 2019, the CyberBullying Research Center (CRC) surveyed about 5000 middle and high school students. 5.3% of the teens said that they were a target of sextortion. Only 8% reported their cases to the police. One in five teen victims suffered silently; they did not tell anyone else.
Who are the perpetrators?
In 2019, Burton Scott was sentenced to 25 years in prison for sextortion. He hacked into dozens of Snapchat accounts, including those belonging to 14 to 16 years olds. He used the images he obtained from some of these accounts to extort more sexual images and videos from the victims.
But this case where the perpetrator is an adult stranger is quite rare. In the CRC study of middle and high schoolers, the perpetrators were commonly about the same age and a boyfriend or girlfriend:
Two-thirds of the perpetrators were about the same age as their victims.
45% of the perpetrators were a boyfriend or girlfriend.
Both the CyberTipline reports and the CRC survey found that the perpetrators’ main objectives were to:
Get more sexual content from the victim
Meet up to engage in sex or sexual acts
Obtain money or goods from the victim
Coerce the victim to start or continue a relationship
Should I worry about it?
Like other crimes, parents should be vigilant about it. Keep in mind that this is an under-reported crime.
Educate your children about it. Explain to them in age-appropriate language.
Tell them not to share any pictures or videos of themselves to anyone (even someone they love and trust) that they would not want you, the family or their teachers to see. Warn them that those images can never truly be deleted from the internet and can fall into the hands of people who want to harm them.
Warn them against lying about their ages to access sites where they can connect with adults.
Let them know that if anyone uses their images to threaten and force them to do something they don’t want to do, they can freely tell you without fear of being in trouble.
Remind them that the perpetrator will not stop their threats until they are caught.
Tell them about the CyberTipline (1-800-THE-LOST or 1-800-843-5678). They can report cases they know of. Teens are more likely to tell a friend than anyone else.