Teen boys blackmailed using nude photos is on the rise: What to know
Predators financially extort teens, mostly boys, by blackmailing them with nude photos. Here’s what you need to know about the cybercrime.
A Georgia man admitted he was part of a five-person money laundering conspiracy that took at least $150,000 from sextortion victims, then sent proceeds of the scheme to a Nigerian criminal group, the Justice Department announced.
Johnathan Demetrius Green, of Stone Mountain, Georgia, pleaded guilty to the money laundering conspiracy charge, the Justice Department said. Green’s plea inched federal prosecutors closer to ending a case that started after a Michigan teen’s 2022 suicide.
Prosecutors said Green and four other men used online payment systems to collect sextortion proceeds from victims before sending them to a Nigerian man referred to as “The Plug.”
The five Americans would keep about 20% of the money, then convert the rest to Bitcoin to pay the Nigerian man, prosecutors said. Then, the Nigerian conspirator would send the remainder to sextortionists, who wound up being Samuel Ogoshi, Samson Ogoshi, and others. The Ogoshi brothers were sentenced to 17 years in prison in September for running an international sextortion ring that targeted more than 100 victims.
“The sextortionists had boys and young men create nude images,” according to the release. “After the sextortionists received those images, they allegedly had the victims send funds to the U.S.-based money launderers through online payment systems like Apple Pay, Cash App, and Zelle.”
The four other men who pleaded guilty this year to money laundering are Dinsimore Guyton Robinson, of Huntsville, Alabama; Kendall Ormond London, of Lithonia, Georgia; Brian Keith Coldmon, of Peachtree Corners, Georgia; and Jarell Daivon Williams, of McDonough, Georgia.
Sextortion is a growing crime in the U.S. where predators procure sexually explicit images or videos, mostly from minors, then threaten to release the media unless a person pays. Sometimes the images are created with AI. The most common victims are boys aged 14 to 17. In extreme cases, sextortion has led to at least 30 suicides since 2021, according to the FBI.
The third person in the Ogoshi case is Ezekial Ejehem Robert, who prosecutors sought to extradite in 2023. It’s not immediately known if Robert is in the U.S.
Green’s lawyer didn’t immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment.
“These individuals helped and profited from this awful, heartbreaking scheme and so they now will face the consequences,” Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Andrew Birge said.
Scheme linked to Michigan teen’s suicide
According to court papers, the five men took at least $178,658 from victims between 2020 and 2022. Prosecutors didn’t say how many victims sent the men money, but one was Jordan DeMay, 17, who lived in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and died by suicide on March 24, 2022, after he was extorted by the Ogoshi brothers.
The Nigerian brothers posed as a young girl DeMay’s age and exchanged intimate photos. That’s when the conversation turned, and the brothers threatened to release DeMay’s explicit photos unless he paid.
DeMay paid the brothers $300, which went to Green’s Apple Pay account, according to court documents. Green sent the money to his Cash App account, then bought Bitcoin funds to pay “The Plug.” The money was then sent to the sextortionists, who later urged DeMay to act on his suicidal ideations. Nearly six hours later, DeMay died.
Federal prosecutors haven’t yet charged the Nigerian man who the five Americans sent Bitcoin payments.
The five men could face up to 20 years in prison at sentencing.
Sextortion a ‘rapidly escalating threat’
Former FBI Director Christopher Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee in December 2023 that sextortion has become a “rapidly emerging threat to the youth of America.”
“When I say rapidly emerging, it’s not that it’s brand new, as you and I have discussed,” he told U.S. Senator for Georgia Jon Ossoff, D-Georgia. “It has been emerging for some time, but what’s newer is that it is bursting into prominence in the last year and a half.”
USA TODAY has spoken to victims’ parents about the crime. They said predators established a false sense of trust before turning on their victims. Parents said their teens died by suicide within 24 hours of being threatened. One parent, Tamia Woods, whose son James Woods died by suicide on Nov. 19, 2023, said the criminals eliminated her son’s desire for a future.
“I don’t think that James knew he was a victim,” she said.
The Justice Department shared the FBI’s safety tip for victims, teens and parents in the release, where the FBI said to be conscious of what’s shared online and who can access their information. They said being wary of anyone they encounter can help, too. Ultimately, the agency told people to ask for help if they believe they’re a victim of sextortion.
“If you have been victimized online, tell someone,” according to the release. “Being a victim of sextortion is not your fault. You can get through this challenge, even if it seems scary and overwhelming. There are people who want to help.”
Anyone who believes they may be a victim can contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or by submitting an online tip at Tips.FBI.gov.
Contact reporter Krystal Nurse at knurse@USATODAY.com. Follow her on X @KrystalRNurse, and on BlueSky @krystalrnuse.bsky.social.
