Smart Living: Sexual extortion poses online danger for kids
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There's a growing danger online for teenagers; it's called sextortion.
It's when predators befriend teens online just to manipulate them into exposing situations.
Teens nowadays spend almost five hours a day swiping right, scrolling and sharing on social media, but how do you know what your child is doing is safe?
Walker Montgomery had just celebrated his 16th birthday, got his driver's license, loved hanging out with his family and was tight with his teammates.
"Walker was the best kid you could ask for," Walker's father, Brian Montgomery, said.
Everything seemed perfect, until it wasn't.
"Around midnight, Walker was contacted through Instagram on the messaging portal by someone he thought to be a teenage girl his age, and it was a simple, 'hey, what's up?'" Brian said.
But after a while, the conversation turned.
"And that led this person to inviting Walker into a sexual encounter through Instagram. Walker didn't realize it, but he was being recorded from a secondary device on the other side," Brian said.
The person on the other end wasn't a girl, but someone more sinister and was threatening to put an image and video of Walker on social media unless Walker paid them a $1,000.
"Walker responded, 'I'm going to kill myself,' their response was, 'go ahead, because you're already dead anyway'," Brian said.
That night, Walker went to his dad's safe, grabbed the handgun and took his own life.
"People, they assume that this had been a building over multiple days or weeks or whatever, this is one night, one night," Brian said.
Experts believe the shame teens feel can become overwhelming. So, what can parents do?
Experts say it's imperative to keep the lines of communication open, educate teens about the risks of sharing personal information online and while you want to respect their privacy, stay informed about your teen's online activity, what sites they visit and who they're chatting with.
"If they're totally focused on online, and they're being very secretive, as a parent, be aware of what apps that are maybe a little bit riskier," licenses psychologist Kathleen McHugh said.
And let your child know they won't be judged or blamed for seeking help.
"What's important for a parent to hear is how quickly this can happen and how unexpected. We all went to bed that night, including Walker. He went to his room that night without any real care in the world, you know? And here we are," Brian said.
Walker's family has started the non-profit Walker's Mission. It has helped to push forward two bills into law in Mississippi to protect children from sextortion scams and punish by law those responsible.
The FBI tracked down the person who was blackmailing Walker in Nigeria; no arrests have been made yet.
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