Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing.
The mother of a teenage boy who took his life after becoming a victim of online sextortion has shared an update on her son's case.
Earlier this month, heartbroken mum Morgan Moore revealed that her 14-year-old son Caleb had taken his life after a person he believed to be a teenage girl turned out to be criminals targeting him in a sextortion scam.
Caleb reportedly had been approached by the 14-year-old girl on TikTok. The pair began flirting and their conversation moved to Snapchat.
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It was here that the US teenager was allegedly sent intimate images, prompting him to do the same. After sending the images Caleb was threatened and told to send over a large sum of money – or have the images leaked online.
Called sextortion, this crime is a type of online blackmail where criminals threaten to leak compromising images of a person unless they pay money or send more. According to advice from the Metropolitan Police, children aged between 15 to 17 and adults under 30 are most at risk.
Following the '35-minute' chat with the girl, Caleb would take his life by shooting himself with a gun.
Morgan - a mother-of-five from El Dorado, Kansas - has now spoken out again, calling her son's death a 'murder'.
"He died terrified, scared and ashamed," she told Fox8live.
"I believe that my son was murdered and that he was manipulated into doing something he did not want to do."
Remembering her son as 'very funny and mild-mannered', Morgan revealed that Caleb excelled at sports and was looking forward to starting a new year at school.
"Whatever they said was cruel enough and threatening enough that it stole all the hope and joy my boy had in just 35 minutes," she continued.
The distraught mum also revealed that it was her four other children who found Caleb's body in the family home.
"I just hit the floor in the kitchen," she added. "The police didn’t want me to see it. Well, all four of my kids saw it."
She is now advocating for victims of sextortion and hopes that Caleb's story will raise awareness about the dangers of young people being online.
What should you do if you or someone you know is a victim of sextortion?
Guidance from the Met Police stresses that sextortion is never the victim's fault and urges victims to report the situation if they feel comfortable to do so.
Adults can report any explicit images shared of themselves to Revenge Porn Online, Revenge Porn Helpline or Stop NCII. Meanwhile, anyone under 18 is advised to access support through Childline's Report Remove.
It's also important to note that revenge porn - the act of sharing explicit images of a person online without their consent - is illegal, with anyone found guilty facing up to two years in prison and a fine.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123.
Topics: Social Media, Mental Health, Crime, US News
Brenna Cooper