Sextortion

Sextortion

Many teenagers take sexually explicit or even nude pictures of themselves and send them to others either online or through text messaging. These photos become "sextortion" when they are used as a tool of exploitation or extortion.

Real Cases

Recently a Colorado teenage girl made the mistake of sending a naked picture of herself to a 20-year-old man in California. The girl thought this young man liked her and she had feelings for him. She accepted him as a friend on Facebook. After receiving the teenage girl’s naked picture, the man threatened her, telling her that if she didn’t send him $1,500 dollars or send him more naked pictures of herself, he would send her naked picture to all her friends on Facebook.

The teenage girl was faced with the possibility of her naked picture being distributed to all her friends and felt pressured to comply. She finally told her mother, who then alerted law enforcement. This 20-year-old man was identified, prosecuted, and sentenced to prison.

Cheezo & Sextortion

“Sextortion" cases are very concerning to law enforcement because frightened victims might give in to demands such as posing for explicit photos, having sex with the perpetrator, or sending them money. Cheezo asks parents and possible victims of "sextortion" to report incidents to law enforcement.