Sextortion: The Online Crime Driving Teens to Despair and How Families Can Fight Back

Sextortion, online blackmail using intimate images, has exploded across the U.S., ensnaring children and teens with devastating speed. The scheme often starts with a friendly DM and ends with relentless threats: pay now or everyone will see this. For some victims, the pressure becomes unbearable. Law-enforcement leaders and advocates say the remedy requires stronger laws, faster platform takedowns, smarter prison controls on contraband phones, and frank conversations at home about what to do the moment a threat appears.

What sextortion is—and why kids feel forced to pay

Sextortion occurs when a person—frequently a minor—is coerced into producing sexual images and then threatened with exposure unless they send more content, money, or both. Even when teens pay, offenders typically escalate demands. Shame and fear trap many into silence, exactly what perpetrators count on.

Financially motivated sextortion has surged. In 2023 alone, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children received 26,718 reports of financial sextortion more than double 2022, reflecting a global epidemic that disproportionately targets boys. In 2025, federal financial-crime officials warned that reports are dramatically increasing, highlighted that minors, especially boys ages 14–17, are at particular risk, and noted that multiple suicides have been linked to these scams. Authorities also flagged the rising use of AI “deepfakes” to extort victims and the use of crypto and prepaid instruments to collect payments.

When sextortion starts inside prison walls

A disturbing share of U.S. sextortion cases has been traced to inmates using contraband cell phones including South Carolina based schemes that targeted hundreds of service members and civilians. In “Operation Surprise Party,” investigators uncovered a prison-run sextortion ring that bilked troops out of more than $560,000; federal prosecutions tied to South Carolina facilities have followed.

Because contraband phones are the lifeline for these crimes, states and attorneys general have pressed Washington to let prisons jam illegal signals. On September 30, 2025, the FCC advanced a proposal that would, for the first time, permit state and local prisons to deploy tightly targeted jamming or managed signal-control solutions, aiming to block only unauthorized inmate devices while protecting 9-1-1 and lawful communications near facilities.

Context: For years, the FCC barred non-federal jamming and promoted “managed access” or call-capture systems; the new push reflects mounting evidence that contraband phones fuel violent crime and sextortion from behind bars.

South Carolina’s response: Gavin’s Law—and a father’s fight

South Carolina’s Gavin’s Law, named for Gavin Guffey, a 17-year-old who died by suicide after being sextorted, made sexual extortion a felony, with enhanced penalties when the victim is a minor or suffers injury or death. It also requires school districts to educate students, families, and staff and to report annually on implementation. The bill’s champion, Rep. Brandon Guffey (Gavin’s father), turned profound loss into statewide reform aimed at prevention.

A new federal tool: the Take It Down Act

In May 2025, Congress enacted the Take It Down Act, a bipartisan law that criminalizes the non-consensual publication—or threats to publish—intimate images, including AI “deepfakes,” and requires covered platforms to remove flagged content quickly. For families, it offers a clearer path to get harmful imagery taken down fast.

The pressure cooker: why some victims pay and why some don’t survive

Offenders use time pressure (“10 minutes or else”), social pressure (“we’ll blast this to your class list”), and impersonation (posing as police, school officials, or platform security). Paying rarely ends the threats; many victims report demands that increase after the first payment. The result can be panic, isolation, and hopelessness—conditions linked to the suicides now driving urgent federal and state action.

Crucially, offenders are now leveraging AI to supercharge deception using deepfakes, real-time face filters, and voice cloning to look and sound like peers or “girlfriends,” sometimes even altering their appearance during live video chats to lure teenage boys into sending explicit images. Fabricated images and videos sometimes generated from a teen’s public social media are increasingly used to coerce victims.

How families can lower the risk—practical steps

Guidance for youth:

• Be selective with what you share online; open profiles give predators leverage.
• Ignore and block unsolicited DMs; be extra wary if someone urges you to switch apps.
• Don’t trust photos/videos as proof—media can be stolen or faked.
• Assume permanence: nothing truly “disappears.”
• Ask for help immediately—block, report, and tell a trusted adult or law enforcement.
• Be AI-savvy: If someone on video looks or sounds “too perfect,” keeps the camera low-quality, or pushes you to move platforms, assume filters, deepfakes, or voice cloning might be in play. End the chat, block, and report.

For caregivers:

• Talk early and often about imposters and sextortion; normalize asking for help.
• Keep accounts private; review followers and DMs together.
• Establish device boundaries (for example, no phones overnight).
• If targeted, do not send more images and do not pay. Save evidence (usernames, messages, payment requests) and report quickly (see below).

Where to report and get help

• Immediate danger or mental-health crisis: Call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).
• Law enforcement: Contact local police and the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit a tip at tips.fbi.gov.
• Minors / image removal: Report to NCMEC’s CyberTipline; NCMEC can help when explicit content is circulating.
• Financial trail: If money was sent, notify your bank; financial institutions can flag sextortion-linked activity to aid investigations.
• Victim guides: ICAC/OJJDP and DHS/HSI provide step-by-step guidance on preserving evidence, securing accounts, and reporting.

The bottom line

Sextortion thrives on silence and speed. South Carolina’s Gavin’s Law, the federal Take It Down Act, and the FCC’s move toward allowing targeted prison jamming—alongside managed-access tools—are reshaping the legal and technological landscape. But the most effective defense still begins at home: talk early, keep accounts private, don’t pay, save everything, and report immediately. For families in crisis, help is one call or click away.

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