The documentary screening was part of a three-hour evening event hosted by the San Diego law enforcement in hopes of educating the community about the growing threat of online sexual extortion of minors.
Like many others who attended a local screening of “Sextortion: The Hidden Pandemic,” late last month, Deborah Harding went looking for information that could help protect the children and teens in her life., which examines the problem of predators grooming and exploiting children and teens online, was shown at an event held at The Rock Church in Point Loma. About 100 people attended.
San Diego police Detective Sgt. Garrick Nugent, said the event was organized to inform parents that sexual extortion, or sextortion, comes in different forms. But fundamentally it is the term for when someone — usually a former romantic partner, sometimes a stranger met online — threatens to publish sexual images online in order to harass, embarrass and control victims.
“Through breaths, I was able to get out the words and I told him: ‘You deserve everything you’re going to get,’” the victim recounted in the film. In front of an audience of many parents and teens, the law enforcement officers talked about how a recent rise in sextortion crimes was exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There’s a lot of people out there that don’t feel that this could happen to their kid because your kids are good kids,” said Nugent. “Unfortunately, this is a crime that’s occurring across all walks of life.” Mason said she’s investigated cases in which the perpetrator is in another country and uses encrypted messaging systems on video games to contact victims. She said she knows of cases in which children sent $500 gift cards overseas in an effort to prevent their pictures from being posted online.
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