Jordan DeMay is a 17years old teenager, who recently passed on, his death has now brought to limelight the sextortion scandal.
After his death, investigations were carried out, and Investigators indicated that the suicide of 17-year-old Jordan DeMay was involved.
Micheal Sewell stated that “You know, this victimization cycle is so ingrained in you that they spread these images,”, cybercrime against children investigator for the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office. “It can push people into to the abyss.”
Investigators in Marquette believed Demay was the victim of social media blackmail, hours before his death. They said the teenager was blackmailed by Instagram for taking pictures of himself and was pressured by perpetrators to pay him to not send the pictures to his family and Instagram followers.
As his Suicide is reported as sextortion, and experts say it’s becoming more common these days.
A program manager at the Ret National Criminal Justice Training Center at Fox Valley Institute of Technology. Lieutenant Joe Laramie stated that “We think kids are sending clearer images just because they’ve been incarcerated for the past two years”
Sextortion predators may only prey on young children and teens for explicit photos. In DeMay’s case, officials said DeMay’s money transfer was a manipulation, but it wasn’t enough.
Laramie stated that “It’s never enough,” “If you send more photos, send more money, whatever it is, it’s never enough. You’re always going to ask for more.”
Most of the time, threats from these predators are nothing more than empty threats, Sewall said.
“If they fail the first time, they don’t actually do anything about it, they just want that threat,” Sewall said. “They’ll fire up people’s fear hormones and say, ‘I’m going to send this to your friends and family’, and they’ll send them a list of all the sites they’re going to use, and they’ll send some of the things that might happen Screenshots of things they [victims] have sent them and said, “This is what I’m going to use and send people to,” but a lot of times they don’t end up sending it to anyone.
However, one of Jordan’s friends actually received one of the compromised photos just hours after Jordan’s death.
But finding out who the perpetrators are can be difficult, as officials sometimes say the looters aren’t even in the United States.
“Many of our cases actually end up in Africa and other countries, which can be very difficult, especially for local agencies,” Sewall said.
“60 percent of people who are sexually assaulted know who the perpetrator is,” Laramie said. “Just because you know someone doesn’t mean they won’t risk sending your photo to someone else.”
Homecoming king, high school football player; after everything Jordan DeMe has to offer, everything seems to be working in his favor.
“His knee injury also kept him out for nearly a year, which made him lose the identity of who he was and what he’d been doing,” Dr. Frank Cummings, a registered psychologist with the Fox Valley Psychological Association.
Experts say suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem, but teens and young adults in particular don’t always see or understand it that way.
“One is the urge, something happens tragically, or we think it’s really impressive, so it’s ‘I don’t know how to deal with it,’” said Barb Bigalke, founder and CEO of the Kaukauna Center for Suicide Awareness. “You Still have to remember — they’re kids; they don’t have the same logical skills to say, ‘Okay, let’s see, maybe I should talk to someone.’”
With more access to the internet and apps, experts also say it’s important to talk to kids about sextortion.
“It really comes down to communication,” Sewall said. “Before they start talking online and talking to people, build open lines of communication with your child and ask them some questions about what they’re doing. For example, ‘If someone starts talking to you online and you don’t know that Who are the people and what do you do?’ Put those assumptions out there and see how they react.”
The Internet Child Crime Task Force program now also provides resources for parents and children about sexting and sextortion. May his soul rest in peace.