‘Sextortion,’ growing online problem
worldwide, victimizes two George Mason students
By Tom
Jackman May 10
Amanda Todd,
in a YouTube video from 2012, recounts how she was victimized by
“sextortion” in 2010, when she was 13. She committed suicide not long
after posting the video. (YouTube)
Two students at George Mason University have become the latest victims
of “sextortion,” in which people send sexually explicit photos or videos
of themselves to someone over the Internet and are then extorted for
money by the recipient in exchange for not distributing them further,
the university police said Monday in an alert distributed to GMU
students and staff.
Just last
month, the Justice Department declared in a new report that “sextortion
is by far the most significantly growing threat to children, with more
than 60 percent of survey respondents indicating this type of online
enticement of minors was increasing.” The department performed a
“National Child Exploitation Threat Assessment” by surveying
investigators, prosecutors, analysts and victim service providers to
determine the biggest threats in child sexual exploitation.
Public
service announcement warns teens about 'sextortion'
This intense PSA from the Department of Justice warns teenagers about
the dangers of sharing private moments online. "Sextortion" is a growing
problem and has led some kids to take their lives. (U.S. Department of
Justice)
At Mason,
police said that unidentified suspects had gained the trust of two
students over the Web in the past week, then enticed them to broadcast
sex acts through their webcams. “The suspects then recorded the footage
of the victims,” Capt. Brian R. Cozby wrote in the email, “and
threatened to circulate the videos on the Internet unless the victims
paid $5,000.”
GMU officials declined to release any other information about the case,
including whether the university police were enlisting any other law
enforcement help to find the suspects or what was being done for the
victimized students. University spokesman Michael Sandler said the
investigation was continuing.
In releasing a new “National Strategy for Child Exploitation Prevention
and Interdiction” in April, the Justice Department made clear that
sextortion has numerous tragic consequences. “The threat of sextortion
directed toward children is not just restricted to the immediate sexual
and emotional abuse imposed by the offender on their victims,” the
report found. “Sextortion victims engage in cutting, have depression,
drop out of school or grades decline, as well as engage in other forms
of self-harm at an alarming rate. In fact, a 2015 FBI analysis of 43
sextortion cases involving child victims revealed at least two victims
committed suicide and at least ten more attempted suicide. Thus, at
least 28 percent of these cases had at least one sextortion victim who
committed or attempted suicide.”
A 13-year-old girl named Amanda Todd is among the best-known victims of
sextortion. In 2010, the Canadian girl showed her breasts during a video
chat on the web. The recipient then messaged her on Facebook and
demanded more, or else. When Todd refused to cooperate, the recipient
shipped a photo to Todd’s Facebook friends. In 2012, she posted a moving
video about her predicament. Soon after, she committed suicide. Here is
her video:
Investigators say that sextortion is often committed by organized
groups, rather than individuals, who not only recruit “agents” to
extract explicit material from victims, but then pay monthly incentives
“for the best-performing blackmailer,” Cozby wrote. The Justice
Department wrote that “it is becoming common for investigations to
reveal that a single sextortion offender has been communicating with
hundreds of potential victims. Forensic examinations of sextortion
offenders’ digital media commonly reveal thousands of organized folders
containing videos and documentation of their contact with countless
minors, often around the world.”
In one 2015 FBI sextortion investigation, the Justice Department wrote,
“offenders were specifically seeking out those children they considered
easy targets because of their demonstrated willingness to post personal
content online and engage in live-streaming video activity, whether the
content was sexually explicit or not.” President Obama declared April
“National Child Abuse Prevention Month.”
In 2014, USA Today reported that the Internet Crimes Against Children
Task Force had recorded an increase in sextortion complaints from 5,300
in 2010 to 7,000 in 2013, a 32 percent rise in three years. The National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) reported that it
received more than 800 sextortion-related tips between 2013 and 2015,
that 78 percent of those victimized were female, and that the offender
in three-fourths of the cases was seeking more explicit material, rather
than money or sex.
Interpol is also tracking sextortion. Their website noted that “the
blackmailer might assume the identity of an attractive man or woman
then, after gaining the victim’s trust, will record footage of the
victim in the nude or performing a sexual act,” and threaten to
circulate the footage to friends or post it online unless money is paid.
But in another version, “the engagement between the victim and the
criminal is interrupted by a child appearing on the screen during the
sex act. The victim then receives a demand, often appearing to come from
a police agency, stating that an investigation will be launched unless
the victim pays.”
The Justice Department said it was collaborating with NCMEC to
distribute materials to law enforcement and social services presenters
across the country, to increase awareness of sextortion. The department
also said it would develop training for prosecutors on investigation and
prosecution of sextortion cases.
Tom Jackman has been covering criminal justice for The Post since 1998,
and now anchors the new "True Crime" blog. Follow @TomJackmanWP
