'It doesn't stop': What you need to know about sextortion, a new form of sexual assault

Parents used to warn their kids not to take candy from strangers.

Parents now need to warn their kids not to send naked pictures to strangers.

The old warning was aimed at avoiding abductions.

The new lesson is aimed at avoiding sextortion.

Sextortion is a cybercrime in which young people are targeted on social media and persuaded to provide a naked photo or video of themselves. These images are then used to threaten the victims into providing more illicit images or money.

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Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh said the county has occasionally had cases in which a juvenile threatens an ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend with naked images after they break up.

However, Walsh said the latest sextortion cases are even more severe and involve total strangers targeting young people. She called this a “new form of sexual assault.”

“It’s very scary and very disturbing,” Walsh said.

Walsh said sextortion schemes against young girls typically involve getting them to provide more naked photos or videos, while those against young boys attempt to extort them for money or gift cards.

“That’s the biggest problem – we need to teach our kids that sending money or more nude photos will not put a stop to the predatory behavior,” Walsh said. “That encourages them to ask for more pictures, videos or money. It doesn’t stop until you are able to put a stop to it.”

Sextortion has recently gotten more attention in Summit County and surrounding areas because of James Woods, a Streetsboro teen who died by suicide in November after he was the victim of sextortion. Since his death, three other Streetsboro teens have reported being victims of sextortion.

Three recent Akron-area sextortion cases result in prosecutions

One sextortion case in Summit County and two in Portage County recently resulted in prosecutions.

Here’s a look at these cases:

• A Barberton teen is accused of threatening to kill a 14-year-old girl and her family to force her to share explicit photos and videos of her and her siblings. He was 16 when the alleged crimes occurred and was bound over to Summit County Common Pleas Court to be tried as an adult. He faces 49 charges, including extortion and complicity to rape.

• A 23-year-old Kent man was sentenced to at least 24 years in prison in January for manipulating children worldwide to send him nude photos and explicit videos. He pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Akron to charges that included cyberstalking and interstate communication.

• A 33-year-old Ravenna man was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison in January after he was involved in a scheme to exploit young girls through social media. He pleaded guilty in Portage County Common Pleas Court to charges that included pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor.

Sextortion cases go underreported, victim advocate says

Teresa Stafford, who heads the Rape Crisis Center of Summit and Medina Counties, thinks sextortion cases often aren’t reported.

“You don’t hear about it a lot because of the shame and stigma,” she said. “Often young kids or young adults who are tricked by someone older don’t want to get into trouble.”

Stafford said some may mistakingly view sextortion as a “victimless crime” because the young person may willingly provide the photo that’s been used against them.

“This is leaving an impact, which people need to understand, especially when lives are being lost,” Stafford said. “We need to hold offenders accountable.”

The Rape Crisis Center and the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office are adding warnings about sextortion to the information they provide when they talk to middle and high school students.

Walsh said the prosecutor’s program will include what sextortion is, how to prevent it and how parents can talk to their kids about it.

Stafford said the increase in social media platforms has provided new mediums for perpetrators to attack and exploit young people.

Young people targeted through social media and online gaming

Streetsboro Police Chief Tricia Wain said the cases they’ve seen in the past few months have all been similar and involved juveniles contacted through a social media app by someone they thought was their age.

Wain said what starts as a friendly conversation turns sexual, with the juvenile coerced into providing a naked image or video. The schemer then threatens to send this picture or video to the juveniles’ friends or family unless they provide money or more images.

Wain said young people also can be targeted through online gaming. She said perpetrators may try to curry favor by buying juveniles extra lives or building materials for their game.

Streetsboro police Lt. Rich Polivka said young people can be contacted on a platform like Spotify or iMessage, with the conversation then continuing on a platform like Instagram or Snapchat where images can be exchanged.

How can teens avoid becoming a victim of sextortion?

Stafford said the best way for young people to avoid becoming victims of sextortion is to not send anyone naked pictures or videos.

Ashley Kline, program director for the Rape Crisis Center, said teens who do provide pictures to someone and find themselves being extorted should tell a trusted adult. She said they should save their conversations or chat histories.

Streetsboro schools Superintendent Mike Daulbaugh said kids need to know that there’s nothing they can do that’s so bad that they can’t confide in a trusted adult.

“There’s nothing we can’t solve,” he said. “We may say, ‘We’re disappointed' or 'You’re grounded,’ but we’re going to work through it.”

Daulbaugh said young people shouldn’t try to handle the situation themselves.

Tips for parents to talk to your kids about sextortion

Wain said parents need to talk to their kids about sextortion.

“Have the conversations,” she said. “They’re not easy conversations to have, but you have to have them.”

The chief said parents also should have the password for their kids’ phones and look at the phones regularly. She said this includes looking for apps that hide other apps, such as an app that looks like a calculator but then takes a person to a hidden browser.

Daulbaugh said parents whose children are victimized should go to the police and make a report and then cancel every one of their child’s social media accounts and change their child’s cellphone number. He said if parents allow their children to set up new social media accounts, they shouldn’t advertise this information.

“It puts it out there to do again,” he said.

Daulbaugh said parents, unlike their children, didn’t grow up with cellphones. He said the message from parents to their children should be: “This is a different world – and we want to help you navigate it.”

Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com, 330-996-3705 and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Sextortion explained: What parents and kids need to know