Suspect charged in Nigeria with sextortion of boy who died in British Columbia

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The phenomenon of sextortion can consist of extorting, through the Internet, sexual favors or other things, for example money, following blackmail.

Radio-Canada

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Federal police in British Columbia said that'a suspect residing in Nigeria has been charged with sexually defrauding a British Columbia boy who died last year.

On Tuesday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Surrey said officers responded to the sudden death of a community boy at his home almost one year ago, last February 13.

An investigation determined that the latter, who committed suicide according to the RCMP, was the victim of financial sextortion.

The attacker posed online as a teenage girl and obtained explicit photos of the young boy. He then threatened to share the photos with family and friends if he didn't buy him gift cards, said RCMP spokesperson Tammy Lobb.

This interaction only took a few minutes, the spokesperson added.

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Police determined last May that suspects in Nigeria had contacted the boy and said officers from the Surrey detachment traveled to Lagos last summer, where they worked with local authorities to arrest two men.

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Officials indicated that one of them was later released, while the other was charged under Nigerian law with offenses including possession and distribution of child pornography, attempted extortion by threats and money laundering ;argent.

RCMP say the 26-year-old remains in custody pending his trial.

Here are 5 things to know about it sextortion.

There isn't a day that we don't miss him. He loved hockey and he loved life. This can happen to anyone, the family testified in a press release.

On this International Day for a safer internet, we would like to remind the public and parents that sextortion is increasing. Financial sextortion is a global crisis. This affects all countries and targets the most vulnerable, our children, said Tammy Lobb.

Here is our message for young people: "You you are not alone and there is life after pictures."

A quote from Dave Knight, Sergeant, Surrey RCMP Special Victims Unit

According to Cybertip.ca, the Canadian clearinghouse for reporting cases of sexual exploitation of children on the Internet, 79% of sextortion reports occur on Instagram or Snapchat.

Source : Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)

According to Sergeant Dave Knight, Surrey RCMP saw a 44% increase in reports of sextortion in 2023. Overall, 21% of victims were under the age of 18, and the majority of victims were men, a reality that is reflected across the country.

With information from The Canadian Press