The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is warning parents about a dramatic increase in sextortion cases being reported.
Rise in sextortion schemes targeting teen boys
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is warning parents about a dramatic increase in sextortion cases being reported. FOX 5’s Josh Rosenthal spoke to child advocate Callahan Walsh about the rise in sextortion schemes targeting teenage boys.
BETHESDA, Md. (FOX 5 DC) – The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is warning parents about a dramatic increase in sextortion cases being reported.
“It’s an alarming trend and a trend that we’re seeing continue to rise,” explained child advocate Callahan Walsh.. Walsh said that sextortion is when a predator, usually an adult, somehow gets a sexually explicit image of a child. It can be through online coercion or a catfishing situation, he explained, adding that the exploiter will then use the sexually explicit image to blackmail the child — either for more photos or for money.
Walsh said there’s been a roughly 150 percent increase in these cases over just the past few years, noting that the uptick started during the pandemic as many children increased the amount of time they spent online.
