- Sexual Extortion is defined as the act of intentionally and maliciously threatening to show or distribute sexually explicit material in order to force the victim to give something in return.
- State legislators are introducing legislation that is specific to criminalizing sexual extortion, and imposing stronger penalties and sentencing guidelines.
"If the person complies and sends a sexually explicit video then the conversation takes a turn then."
Nowadays, everyone is on their phones scrolling through social media but just like that, it could all turn. State Representatives introduced legislation to hold criminals accountable for blackmailing people with sexually explicit photos but to bring awareness to anyone who uses one of these.
Sexual extortion is something Michigan State University Police Detective Sergeant Aaron Schroeder sees a lot.
"This is unfortunately common on college campuses."
Sexual extortion, or Sextortion, is defined as the act of intentionally and maliciously threatening to show or distribute sexually explicit material in order to force the victim to give something in return.
"We've seen perpetrators taking screenshots of the list of people that person follows or is followed by, depending on the social media platform," Schroeder said.
So state legislators are looking to put a stop to it, officially.
House Bill 5887 and 5888 will make the crimes felony offenses and give courts sentencing guidelines specific to sexual extortion.
Bill sponsor John Fitzgerald says that the increase in the cases needs to be addressed.
"With the FBI reporting a tenfold increase since 2021, affecting thousands of young people, we must act now to protect our children and hold predators accountable to prevent further tragedies," Fitzgerald said.
He says that the bills are in honor of Jordan DeMay, a teen in the Upper Peninsula who committed suicide after falling victim to sexual extortion.
"If any of us feel like we have the wool pulled over our eyes, we might not want to share that with anyone else we might be embarrassed and that perpetrators capitalize on that worry, on that fear," Schroeder said.
Schroeder says that it's important for anyone affected by sextortion to alert their local authority.
"Just know that if this happens to you, you're not alone. It takes a village to come together to support each other when this happens, these types of crimes thrive in silence so always report.
The bills are on their way to the House Criminal Justice Committee for further recommendations.
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