FBI warning students in Kentucky about the dangers of 'sextortion,' online blackmail

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Federal officials are sounding the alarm about the growing prevalence of what they're calling "sextortion."

The term is used to describe the act of requesting and receiving nude images from children or teens online, then extorting those minors by threatening to make the images public if financial demands are not met.

The FBI said this is happening across the country, including multiple cases here in Kentucky. Now, the agency is visiting schools to talk to students about online safety.

Supervisory Special Agent Jeremy Wright with the Louisville FBI field office said he's been talking to districts across the state for more than a year about this topic. Recently, he's held several presentations for middle and school school students in Oldham County.

"What led to the Oldham County Schools presentations honestly was the Oldham County Police Department," said Wright. "They mentioned, 'Hey, we've had this really big situation' and they'd been dealing with it kind of on their own, and we offered this to come in as the FBI."

Wright said it felt like a "higher concentration" of cases in the area than what had been seen in other locations, but he said this is in no way an issue that is exclusive to the county.

"This is not exclusive to any county or any state," said Wright. "This is kind of a national issue -- probably a global issue if we were able to talk to other countries about it."

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the number of reports involving sextortion more than doubled between 2019 and 2021.

In February of this year, the Secret Service held a summit in Louisville aimed at preventing child exploitation online.

More than 1,500 students were in attendance at the Kentucky Expo Center for what was called "Operation Angel Summit." The event focused on reaching out to teenage students about protecting themselves from potential predators, providing resources, and empowering survivors of abuse.

Thursday, the Secret Service released a statement to WDRB News that said it is dedicated to educating, preventing, and responding to incidents involving sextortion.

School officials with Oldham County Schools hope education on the topic can be a way to prevent this in the future.

"It's tough, but I think being proactive is what we're trying to do," said Eric Davis, director of student services for Oldham County Schools.

Davis said the presentations are different for separate age groups. The middle school students have one presentation from the FBI, while high school students have another. Parents also have the option for their child to opt out. But Davis said he believes students are learning valuable lessons from these conversations about their digital footprints.

"One of the things we wanted them to learn is the lifelong impacts a very quick decision can have, and then also the fact that a lot of kids believe on Snapchat -- specifically Snapchat and a couple others -- that when they erase things, that something is gone, when in fact it is not," he said.

The FBI said this can affect kids anywhere. Wright said in many situations, the person on the other side of the screen is doing all of this from another country.

Still, there are investigations.

"We're pretty effective at doing (investigations), and then it's a matter of working with that country that they're residing in to help facilitate the end of that investigation," said Wright.

Ultimately these agencies hope to prevent these situations if possible.

For an overview of this topic from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, click here.

For information to help parents, click here.

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