Is Sextortion Virtual Sex Trafficking?

Yes, it is – but it can lead to real life trafficking as well

Online grooming, non-consensual sharing of intimate images, and sextortion often serve as a precursor to sex trafficking.

A 13-year-old boy, for instance, believes he’s talking with a pretty girl his age with a similar background and interests. She flirts with him and sends a provocative photo, asking for one in return. Pretty soon, it escalates into sending videos, and then she asks to meet in person.

Playing on Roblox, a 9-year-old goes from roleplaying in a military game to chatting on Discord with promises from his friends of a higher rank, new skins, or Robux to lure him. This is how the grooming process begins – kids don’t understand that people aren’t who they say they are.

From October 2021 through March 2023, the FBI tracked roughly 12,600 sextortion victims, all minors. This crime feeds on the victim’s shame, embarrassment, and isolation. Many of these teens feel like they have nowhere to turn. Between October 2021 and March 2023, at least 20 sextortion victims died by suicide.²

How to Protect Your Child Before Anything Happens:

What To Do If Your Child Is in Trouble:

Contact Law Enforcement Immediately. The FBI instructs contacting law enforcement immediately upon learning of any unwanted, inappropriate contact. Parents can call 1-800-CALL-FBI or visit the FBI website to report incidents. Also, contact your local law enforcement agency to make a report.

Keep Everything. Keep all original documentation, emails, text messages, and logs of communication with the subject. Do not delete anything before law enforcement can review it.

Don’t Hold Back. Tell law enforcement everything about the online encounters. We get it. It may be embarrassing for the parent or child, but providing all relevant information is necessary to find the offender. When reporting online, if you can, be as descriptive as possible:

• Name and/or Username of the subject.
• Email addresses and phone numbers used by the subject.
• Websites used by the subject.
• Description of all interactions with the subject.

Take it Down. If sexually explicit images have been shared, visit the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s Take it Down tool or Is Your Content Out There? for potential removal.

Sextortion Cases Are Making National Headlines.

James Woods, a 17-year-old college-bound track star, had just gotten his driver’s license and posed for his senior yearbook photo when an online predator targeted him on Instagram, resulting in his suicide, CBS News reported on January 17, 2024.³ James received 200 messages in less than 20 hours, his mother, Tamia Woods, said. “It ranged anywhere from ‘I own you’ to ‘you need to take your own life.”

“Any child can be a victim of this crime. Even children from loving, stable homes.”

— Abbigail Boccaccio, Unit chief for the FBI Child Exploitation Unit.

South Carolina state House Rep. Brandon Guffey lost his 17-year-old son Gavin, a star high school athlete, to a self-inflicted gunshot wound in July 2022, traced to a sextortion scam Gavin had encountered on social media. Rep. Guffey filed charges on January 30, 2024, accusing social media platforms of causing a range of problems in children, including depression, low self-esteem, anxiety, and eating disorders. The lawsuit further alleges that algorithms aggressively target adolescents and do not do enough to keep them safe from harm, according to CNN.⁴

As a result, South Carolina has passed “Gavin’s Law,” making sexual extortion an aggravated felony punishable by years in prison if the victim is a minor or if the victim suffers physical injury or death directly related to the crime.