As teenagers return to school with internet-enabled gadgets, the Bucks County Sheriff’s Office is warning of the growing menace of online sextortion.
Sheriff Fred Harran said the warning comes as the FBI reports a sharp increase in cases of young kids being forced to provide obscene photographs online.
Harran stated in a news release on Tuesday that our young people’s safety and wellbeing are our first priorities. Sextortion is a horrible crime that can affect its victims for a long time.
These crimes usually start on messaging apps, social media, and gaming websites, where predators frequently pose as someone they are not in order to gain victims’ trust before coercing them into sharing incriminating photos. The criminals then use these pictures as a form of blackmail, threatening public exposure in exchange for further pictures or cash.
At a recent field hearing organized by Harran, Mary Worthington, director of prevention and training at the Network of Victim Assistance (NOVA), presented concerning numbers. According to her evidence, one in three kids have participated in some kind of online sexual connection, and 20% of teenage internet users say they have been the object of inappropriate sexual solicitation.
Worthington argued in favor of requiring internet safety education programs, saying, “We have witnessed firsthand how technology facilitates sexual violence and the impact it has on victims and their families.”
Victims are urged by the sheriff’s office to report events to responsible adults, call authorities, and save all communications and photos as proof. Among the resources are:
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FBI:
800-CALL-FBI ortips.fbi.gov
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National Center for Missing and Exploited Children:
800-THE-LOST orcybertipline.org
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This article was structured and organized using generative AI using data from the Bucks County Sheriff’s Office. Lehighvalleylive.com reviewed and edited it.
