KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Sextortion has affected thousands of young people across the country including children in East Tennessee. It causes embarrassment, anxiety, desperation and in the most severe cases—suicide.
"It is a threat. In terms of child exploitation and child sexual abuse, those threats have been around since the beginning of mankind. The threats that we are seeing now grow because there are more people online than have ever been online," FBI Supervisory Senior Resident Agent Jordan Hadfield said.
A local family was devastated earlier this year to learn their 17-year-old star athlete was the target of sextortion and now the child's mom and stepmom are sharing their story so this doesn't happen to another family.
It started as a seemingly innocent follow request on Instagram from a cute girl.
"So he thinks he's talking to this beautiful girl and they had all these mutual friends. This person had requested his friend group, maybe phishing, to see who would take the bite," the victim's stepmom said.
The boy responded and "Samantha Cox" had her victim. She started sending the boy pictures on Snapchat and pressuring him to do the same. He did and after they spoke on the phone, the teen quickly learned Samantha Cox was actually a man from another country.
"She is not a she, and he is going to use the photos if you don't send $500 and of course—he did not have $500," the victim's stepmom said.
The FBI says financially motivated sextortion usually targets boys ages 14 to 17.
"It's going to put them in a spot where they're very, very vulnerable and they're also very interested in attention from other kids, from other girls that might be talking to them online," Hadfield said.
Perpetrators often from places far away like Nigeria form a relationship with a child by stalking them on social media.
"This perpetrator actually had his girlfriend's name, who his parents were, who his ball coach was and went as far as to say that if he did not send this money, they were going to notify these people. He named them," the victim's stepmom said.
Between October 2021 and March 2023, the FBI received more than 5,800 reports of this type of sextortion.
"They give whatever they can on Venmo and yet it's still not enough because some of these subjects are going to continue to come back and back and back for more and more money," Hadfield said.
But it's not just the money, it's a child's self-worth.
"Humiliation, embarrassment, beat down. I cannot say I've ever seen this kid—who is a ray of sunshine, who is a leader of others, who is well-respected—but totally a different side of him," the victim's stepmom said. "I knew that he was desperate for a lot of money and I was scared for why he needed that amount."
The victim's mom, dad and stepmom were in the dark about all of it. But, he finally confessed to his dad and stepmom who quickly called his mom to let her know.
"I immediately drove over to the house and I saw him and his body language was so defeated. He just was crying," the victim's mom said. "We reminded him that he is a really good kid and that one mistake does not erase all the good."
The family says supporting the child is what helped the most.
"It's just loving them through it, listening, being there because they're beating themselves up enough—they're embarrassed enough. He was terrified. He didn't need any more of that from us," the victim's mom said.
Now months later, the victim's stepmom said the teen is in a much better place. "Slowly over time, he is right back to himself. He's the leader on the team. Everybody wants to be around him. He's got that energy and you just love his sense of humor and his sarcasm and he's just a lovable child who is a teenage boy."
If you or anyone you know is a victim of financially motivated sextortion, you can learn about the next steps here.