The parents of a 12-year-old teenager who committed suicide after being the victim of sextortion have launched a heartfelt appeal to warn against this internet scourge.
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“Be more active with your children, even if you are already active, which we were. Talk to them about predators and all these things that happen online,” Nicola Smith tearfully told the CKPG channel.
The mother from Prince George, British Columbia watched as her son Carson Cleland took his own life after becoming a victim of online sextortion.
His father, Ryan Cleland, didn’t expect this and regretted that his son didn’t know how to talk to him about what happened to him. The teenager enjoyed using the Snapshat application, which is popular among young people because it allows them to send short-lived messages and communicate online.
“They are not ready for such problems. “Adult problems in a child’s world,” he lamented.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police confirmed to CKPG that they are investigating a possible case of sextortion. However, the police admitted that such investigations are complex, especially when the suspect is on another continent or even in a country where the actions he committed are not even considered a crime.
A growing crime
The number of sextortion cases has exploded in both Canada and Quebec since the pandemic. Last August, Montreal police told the Journal that they had opened more than 100 sextortion cases in 2023, three times more than on the same day last year.
“The vast majority of victims are boys between the ages of 14 and 17. The entry points are the major social networks that we know,” explained Commander Marco Breton, head of the sexual exploitation unit at the Montreal Police Department.
For its part, the RCMP noted that the website cyberaide.ca “observed an 85% increase in reports of sextortion between December 2022 and August 2023.” The site received 2,300 reports for the year 2022-2023.
Educating young people about the dangers of the Internet remains the best hurdle to avoid such tragic consequences.
IF YOU NEED HELP
Quebec suicide prevention hotline
• www.aqps.info
• 1 866 CALL (277-3553)
Youth, I’m listening
• www.jeunessejecoute.ca
• 1 800 668-6868
Tel-young
• www.teljeunes.com
• 1 800 263-2266