A Q&A with two detectives on the frontlines of this growing crime
ARLINGTON, Texas — The crime of online sextortion is surging across the nation, increasingly targeting teenage boys and in some tragic cases, the young victims have taken their own lives after being blackmailed with compromising photos in exchange for money. This is a crime known as sextortion.
Sextortion is a form of child sexual exploitation in which children are threatened with the public exposure of nude or sexual images by someone demanding more explicit content, sexual activity, or money in return. This crime can happen when a child shares an image with someone they believed they knew or trusted, but in many cases, offenders target children online and obtain sexual images through deceit and coercion, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC).
Sextortion by the Numbers
The FBI and NCMEC have reported a dramatic rise in sextortion cases in the past several years after the COVID-19 pandemic. NCMEC data shows between 2021 and 2023, the number of online enticement reports increased by more than 300 percent, receiving 456,000 sextortion reports as of fall 2024.
The FBI data shows that law enforcement agencies received over 7,000 reports of online sextortion of minors in recent years, involving at least 3,000 victims—primarily boys. Sadly, at least a dozen victims have died by suicide. The FBI has also observed a 20-percent increase in financially motivated sextortion cases involving minors.
Our Rescue spoke with Sgt. Tarik Muslimovic of the Arlington Police Department’s Human Exploitation and Trafficking Unit in Texas and Sgt. Julie Ballou of the Vancouver Police Department’s Digital Evidence Cyber Crime Unit in Washington to understand the growing threat across the nation, the role of artificial intelligence in these crimes, and what parents and teens can do to stay safe.
Q: What is the impact of increased instances of sextortion?
Sgt. Muslimovic: “While sextortion has been around for years, we’re seeing an alarming increase in cases after COVID-19—especially involving minors. Unfortunately, young people are taking their own lives as a result of this crime. Later, we discover they had been targeted by an online predator and extorted.”
Sgt. Ballou: “We’ve also seen an exponential growth in just our own patrol calls for service involving sextortion cases with children. And it’s really been consuming for law enforcement. It’s something that is new to a lot of parents who don’t have a great understanding when we tell them that their child has been a victim of sextortion. I am at a point where I’m running out of detectives and running out of digital forensic investigators to be able to tackle all of the crimes that are reported to law enforcement.”
Q: What are the different types of sextortion?
Sgt. Muslimovic: Sextortion generally falls into three categories:
- Relationship-based sextortion – “This happens when an ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend threatens to share explicit images after a breakup.”
- Financially motivated sextortion – “Many victims are young boys who believe they’re chatting with a young woman online. Once they send a compromising image, the perpetrator—often an adult male—demands money, threatening to send the image to the victim’s contacts.”
- Sexually motivated sextortion – “In this case, the perpetrator isn’t after money but wants additional explicit images. They use blackmail to obtain more content from the victim.”
Sgt. Ballou: “Sometimes the predators ask for additional photos, or more revealing photos. It’s even self-harm photos and videos. Sometimes predators ask for gift cards or money, and oftentimes with a child with an underdeveloped brain, they’re a lot more easily manipulated and preyed upon. A lot of the sextortion cases, you think about one offender, they’re not just victimizing one child. They are casting a wide net and they are victimizing dozens if not hundreds of children at a time. And so our society is just going to be filled with more and more victims, and it’s going to deplete more and more of our resources.”
Q: How is artificial intelligence making sextortion even more dangerous?
Sgt. Muslimovic: “AI is changing the game. We’ve seen cases where perpetrators take an innocent, fully clothed photo of a child and manipulate it using AI, creating a fake but explicit image. They then use this deepfake to extort the victim, saying, “This is you.”
Sgt. Ballou: “AI can be used for even very simple peer pressure. A lot of times we have that feeling of wanting to fit in and a child wants to fit in as well. So, AI can often be used against children to make it present as something normal and common and all the other kids are doing it. And so if a child is presented with another image or video using AI to try and convince them, I think that that drops their guard a little bit. They’re more likely to succumb to a predator’s requests.”
Q: How can we prevent sextortion?
Sgt. Muslimovic: “Awareness is key. Many cases come to light when students report incidents at school. We’re seeing more reports because education efforts are encouraging kids to speak up. Parents must create a safe space for kids to come forward. If your child tells you they’ve been targeted, don’t react with anger or shame. Instead, say: “Thank you for telling me. I know this must be difficult.” That kind of support can make all the difference.”
Sgt. Ballou: “We provide the parents with resources, making sure that they have the links that NCMEC to support the parents and children as well. One of the things that our teachers, educators and parents are faced with is how to tackle this because this is also something that is really shameful for the child. They have a real sense of embarrassment and shame that this has happened to them.”
Q: What is your biggest piece of advice for parents?
Sgt. Muslimovic: “Parents wouldn’t hand their child car keys without driving lessons, but many give kids smartphones with no education on online safety. We have to do better. Teach your children about the risks of social media and encourage open conversations about online safety.
Sgt. Ballou: “Also, parents, you have to be nosy. You have to ask the questions, you have to get into those devices. You have to be checking. And I think explaining to your kid, this is not because I want to know the gossip going around school, but this is about your safety, making sure that you have good open communication with your child is really important.”
Q: What should someone do if they are targeted by a sextortionist?
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) has outlined steps parents and young people can take if they or their child are a victim of sextortion, including:
- Remember, the predator is to blame, not your child or you.
- Get help before deciding whether to pay money or otherwise comply with the predator. Cooperating or paying rarely stops the blackmail and continued harassment.
- REPORT the predator’s account via the platform’s safety feature.
- BLOCK the predator and DO NOT DELETE the profile or messages because that can be helpful to law enforcement in identifying and stopping them.
- Let NCMEC help get explicit images of you off the internet.
- Visit missingkids.org/IsYourExplicitContentOutThere to learn how to notify companies yourself or visit cybertipline.org to report to us for help with the process.
- Ask for help. This can be a very complex problem and may require help from adults or law enforcement.
- If you don’t feel that you have adults in your corner, you can reach out to NCMEC for support at [email protected] or call NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST.
The legal consequences for AI-generated sextortion are severe. Even if an image is fake, it can still lead to prosecution. Laws addressing sextortion vary both federally and state by state, with most classifying the crime under online harassment, extortion, or cyber exploitation. Minors receive greater legal protections under federal and state laws related to child pornography and exploitation. For more resources on sextortion, visit www.missingkids.org. Online sextortion is a growing crisis, but education, awareness, and proactive conversations can help protect children from becoming victims.