Perpetrators use social media platforms, gaming sites and messaging apps to target youths, posing as peers to coerce victims into sharing explicit photos.
Lorin Payne, Louisville Metro Police Department detective, said many parents are unaware of how easy it is for predators to access children online and the techniques they use to groom children.
"Give a child a phone they have access to, the world essentially, everything online, but now the world has access to your child," she explained.
Payne added that she is receiving around six calls a week from parents or caregivers reporting extortion cases. From October 2021 to March 2023, the FBI says it received more than 13,000 reports of online financial sextortion of minors, primarily boys, that led to at least twenty suicides. Cases of digital child abuse or sextortion can be reported to Kentucky's Child Protection Hotline at 1-877-KY-SAFE1 or through the state's online reporting system at 'reportitky.org.'
Shannon Moody, chief officer of policy and strategy with Kentucky Youth Advocates and the Kosair For Kids Face It Movement, said the bipartisan Senate Bill 73 requires sixth graders receive age-appropriate educational materials on red flags and what to do if sextortion happens to them or a peer.
"It strengthens the current law around making sexual extortion a crime in and of itself, whether it's a misdemeanor or felony, depending on the severity. It also empowers victims by giving them some clear legal remedies to seek justice and recover damages," she said.
The Family Nurturing Center in Florence serves 10,000 Kentucky children and families each year.
Jane Herms, president and CEO, said 30% of its teen counseling cases involve sextortion. She says increasing awareness on the issue and emphasizing the importance of having conversations about sextortion with kids is critical to prevention.
"Digital abuse is still child abuse, and it really is emotional terrorism, and it leaves very deep psychological scars. It is trauma for children, and you see the impact," she stressed.
Research shows nearly forty percent of teens and around 23% of nine- to 12-year-olds believe sharing nude images with adults they meet online is common. Kosair has developed resources for kids' Cyber Safety at 'faceitabuse.org/cybersafety.'
