New York middle schooler charged in alleged sextortion scheme 

A New York middle school student has been charged with multiple felonies for an elaborate sextortion plot, authorities say. 

The Stony Point Police Department announced the charges in a press conference last week as the result of a monthslong investigation beginning in February. Authorities said six alleged victims came forward during the investigation, but they believe there are “potentially several hundred additional victims.” 

Sextortion is a term the FBI uses to describe cases “involving children and teens being threatened and coerced into sending explicit images online.” Typically, once criminal actors have the explicit images, they will demand sex or money from the victim or the images will be released publicly. 

The suspect, a juvenile male who attended Fieldstone Middle School, was arrested in June but charges were not filed until last week because the investigation was ongoing. The suspect’s name was not disclosed because of his age. 

According to police, the scheme targeted juvenile male students who thought they were sending explicit photos to a girl they had been contacting on social media. However, they were really exchanging photos with the suspect, who demanded money from victims under threat he’d post the images online. 

Authorities said sextortion is no longer just a local crime but has become a global threat, especially on social media. 

“A lot of these cases, they end up out of the state, out of the country, mostly. So, it is a little unusual and a little troubling,” said Det. Andrew Kryger of the Stony Point Police Department. 

In its press release, Stony Point PD stressed “many parents may be unaware of the extent of these dangers.” 

The FBI in 2024 warned the menace of sextortion is metastasizing nationwide, with more than 13,000 reported cases of sextortion involving minors in less than two years, between October 2021 and March 2023. 

The Wisconsin Legislature passed Bradyn’s Law in June, named after Bradyn Bohn, a 15-year-old Wisconsin resident who authorities say committed suicide in March after having been the victim of sextortion online. The law makes sexual extortion a crime carrying harsh penalties including up to 60 years in prison if it results in a victim’s death. 

“Today, Wisconsin sent a clear message to the despicable predators trying to exploit and harm our children – stay out of Wisconsin,” said bill sponsor Rep. Brent Jacobson. “My colleagues and I don’t have the power to bring Bradyn back. However, today’s vote is a major step towards protecting our children from this evil, and making sure no other family has to grieve for a son or daughter robbed from them by sextortion.” 

“The only way that this changes, because it won’t stop, is our voices being louder than everyone else on the internet,” Bradyn’s mother, Brittany Byrd, said in a press conference earlier this year. 

In 2022, Michigan teen Jordan DeMay took his life when police say he was extorted by Nigerian scammers threatening to share his photos online unless he paid them $1,000, as reported previously by ABC News. 

“When I think about the things that they said to him, it hurts me so bad as a mom to think about what he went through in the last hours,” his mother Jennifer DeMay told ABC News. 

The Stony Point PD, local law enforcement and the North Rockland Central School District are planning a community forum on sextortion awareness at Fieldstone Middle School. 

“It is essential to create safe, judgment-free environments where children feel comfortable reporting concerns,” Stony Point PD said. “We must create an environment that instills confidence and trust, ensuring that our children never feel alone and always know that support is available when they need it.”