LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Kentucky boy's story is helping to push for tougher laws against online extortion nationwide.
Elijah Heacock took his own life Feb. 28. His mother said after his death, detectives found threatening messages on his phone.
Someone in those messages claimed to have nude photos of the 16-year-old. They also threatened to release them publicly unless Heacock paid them $3,000, which is known as sextortion.
Kentucky just passed a bill making it a felony. Now, a similar measure has reached the federal level. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce is expected to vote on the "Take it Down Act" Wednesday. If passed, it would make publishing, or threatening to publish, revenge pornography a crime.
U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie spoke during a hearing last week about part of a conversation he had with Heacock's mother.
"It was a kid that everybody loved," said Guthrie, R-Kentucky. "She said 'I couldn't believe people from five counties showed up to be at his funeral. I didn't know he touched that many lives.'"
The bill would also require websites to remove the disturbing content within 48 hours of a victim contacting them.
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