Summary of the news
- South Carolina State Representative Brandon Guffey exposed the dangers of “sextortion.”
- Crime occurs when there is a risk of revealing victim information in exchange for money.
- Brandon’s son committed suicide last year after being sextorted.
- The number of sextortion cases more than doubled between 2019 and 2021.
Gavin Guffey committed suicide after being threatened online Reproduction Facebook/Brandon Guffey; Reproduction Instagram/Gavin Guffey; Assembly/R7
South Carolina State Representative Brandon Guffey revealed the dangers of “blackmail” — the threat to divulge a victim’s private information in exchange for money — after losing his teenage son, who committed suicide last year.
Gavin Guffey, 17, received a message on Instagram one night in July 2022 from someone posing as a girl, and the couple began chatting on the social network.
The person convinced Gavin to turn on “temporary mode” in the app’s chat, which allows messages to disappear after they’re received. “And then they shared pictures,” Brandon told Fox News Digital.
After exchanging intimate pictures, the criminal demanded money from Gavin. The boy replied that he only had US$25 (R$123.67) in his account and sent the amount, but the scammer asked for more.
“And he even said, ‘I’m sitting in my room with a gun. When these pictures come out, I’ll stop this immediately,'” the Republican politician said. “I don’t know if any of the photos were shared.”
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That same night, Gavin, who had just graduated from high school and had a passion for art and music, committed suicide.
After the boy’s death, the Instagram scammer stalked Brandon Guffey and Gavin’s teenage cousin on Instagram and began demanding money from them. No arrests were made during the investigation.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster on April 18 signed into law a law called “Gavin’s Law,” which Guffey introduced last year, which aims to combat sextortion in South Carolina by making it a criminal offense that aggravates it will if the victim is a minor.
“With the signing of the Gavin Act, despicable criminals, like those responsible for the tragic loss of the Guffey family, will now know they will go to prison for long periods of time for exploiting innocent youth in our state,” he said McMaster in a statement to Fox News Digital. .
Brandon said his goal with Gavin’s bill was to “send a message,” and commended the collaboration between Democrats and Republicans in passing the bill, which aims to address a crime that affects more families than people realize is, he said.
“If you’re targeting children, you better not be in the state of South Carolina,” the congressman said. “In my small area alone, at least 30 families have come to me to learn about sextortion. At least one to two a day across the country.”
The number of sextortion cases reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children more than doubled between 2019 and 2021. In 2022, 79% of criminals demanded money from victims.
In that regard, Brandon says that if his son had consulted him before the suicide, out of respect for Gavin’s privacy, he likely would not have made his knowledge of the dangers of sextortion public. Since the boy’s death, however, the Republican wants to bring about real change in the way these crimes are handled in South Carolina’s justice system.
“Personally, I feel responsible for every child I know who continues to be targeted in this way, and I haven’t done all I could to raise awareness to let parents know that they do.” should talk to their children and tell their children that.” You will not embarrass them.
Brandon’s advice to other parents or children struggling with sextortion is, “Get offline first.” Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and other apps let you know when a user is online and active. Sextorsion offenders would take advantage of this and send more sophisticated messages when the victim is online, he explained.
Second, “Call the police and get them involved,” the state representative said. “Some people say you should delete your social media and take screenshots. I don’t think so because the police can take over the conversation and hopefully follow these people” who are traveling around the country and the world, the politician said.
The FBI defines sextortion as a “felony felony” and has its own tips to avoid becoming a victim of a similar situation: “Never send compromising pictures of yourself to anyone, no matter who they are — or who they claim to be.” Don’t open it.” Email attachments. people you don’t know. Turn off electronic devices and webcams when not in use. If you are receiving sextortion threats, you are not alone.”
CAUTION: If you or someone you know is struggling with depression or thoughts of suicide, call 188; The service operates 24 hours a day. The CVV Centro de Valorização da Vida offers emotional support and suicide prevention, voluntarily and free of charge to all people who want and need to talk, in complete secrecy.
* Supervised by Celso Fonseca