LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The death of a 16-year-old boy in Glasgow puts a Kentucky face on the nationwide crisis of predators preying on children and trying to exploit them for sexually explicit images online.
Elijah Heacock died by suicide and loved ones believe it's connected to an online sextortion scheme.
“I don't want another mother to ever face this,” Heacock’s mother Shannon said in an interview with WBKO TV. “I don't want another sibling or father (to go through this). I don't want another school district to face this like we have.”
According to the FBI sextortion is when an adult coerces or entices a child to produce a sexually explicit image of themself and send it to them over the internet. The predators who receive that footage then uses it to blackmail or try to extort money from the young victim by threatening to release it to their friends or family if they don't comply with the demands.
“This person was asking for $3,000 from a child and now we’re looking at $30,000 to bury our son and medical bills.”
Heacock said she never saw Elijah’s death coming. The 16-year-old died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound February 28. Shannon Heacock said detectives found the threatening messages on his phone.
"It's heartbreaking, it's absolutely heartbreaking,” Sen. Julie Raque Adams (R-Louisville) said in an interview with WDRB. “This is the exact reason we have to be one step ahead of the predators."
Adams sponsored Senate Bill 73. It makes sextortion in Kentucky a felony and if the victim takes their life, it can be charged as a homicide. The measure was one of the only pieces of legislation to pass with unanimous bipartisan support. It’s already been signed by the Governor.
"It says enough is enough we are going to go after you," Adams said.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received more than 26,000 financial sexploitation reports in 2023 which is up nearly 150% from the year before. Senate Bill 73 doesn't just increase penalties; it increases awareness. It requires middle and high schools to place signs on campus telling kids what to do if it happens to them. The biggest takeaway from that campaign is contacting the FBI. Officials said often times teens stay silent thinking they'll get in trouble when they're actually the victim of a crime. FBI agents can get the sexploitation images removed and go after the predator.
"As a mother, it touches my heart but the legislature has to keep up with the bad guys," Adams said. “Hopefully it will stop another mother from going through this.”
To read the current version of the bill, click here.
Anyone being exploited is the victim of a crime and should report it. You can contact your local FBI field office, call 1-800-CALL-FBI, or report it online at tips.fbi.gov.
For more exploitation resources, click here.
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- Proposed Kentucky bill aims to educate kids, make sexual exploitation a felony
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- Bullitt County high school students building tiny house for victims of human trafficking
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