BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — “This is the crime of our time," said Kern County Assistant District Attorney Tyson McCoy.
From local law enforcement to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, agencies are fearful of the rising increase of children and teens targeted online and extorted after being tricked into sending sexually explicit messages.
“Growing up, we used to be like when the lights are off, you come home because that’s when it was dangerous. On the internet, the lights are always off," McCoy said. “We’ve seen it here locally, we’ve seen sextortion taking place. I’ve seen it in a case involving a young girl."
In one case, McCoy said a young girl was targeted repeatedly by the same criminal even after blocking messages and profiles he continued to extort her.
“Traffickers are master manipulators they will go onto your child’s social media site they will learn information about your child, and then they will use that to threaten and exploit them," McCoy said. "They will tell them I know where you live, I know you went to this school, I know your friend’s this person.”
Since 2016, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s Cyber Tipline received 262,573 reports of online extortion — including sexual messages. Last year at least 3,000 children were victims of schemes — and more than a dozen of those were linked to suicide, according to the FBI. While most victims are between 14 to 17 years old, McCoy says they’re starting to see younger children targeted.
““We also know it’s happening at even younger ages, 8, 9, 10 years old,” he said.
Many of these cases are tough to investigate because kids often feel shame and embarrassed, according to McCoy. He says that’s why it’s even more important to have these conversations.
“Talk to their kids about not accepting friends requests, not sharing information with people they don’t know, keeping their privacy settings on a maximum level to the outside world online," he said.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sextortion, you can report it to NCMEC’s Cybertipline or call 1-800-THE-LOST. For more information and resources visit Missingkids.org.
