Jen's" boyfriend always told her that the naked photos he took of her would be for his enjoyment only. Until the day she decided to break off the relationship, that is.
"He started threatening me with the nude photos. He threatened to send them to my company as well as post them on Facebook, on the Internet and send them to all of my friends," she says.
As a senior software engineer vying for a promotion in a large company, Jen knew she'd be ruined if the photos got out. So she decided to go back with her boyfriend, to ensure they stayed private.
"I was devastated. I was thinking that a million people could see my nude photos," she says. "And I had absolutely no control over it."
This kind of photo blackmail is becoming all too common. The Feds even have a name for it -- sextortion -- and say it's a crime that's on the rise, with cases popping up around the country.
In Alabama, 24 year old Jonathan Vance was sentenced to 18 years in prison last April for extorting more than 50 young women. He admitted to sending threatening emails on Facebook and MySpace.
In Wisconsin, 18 year old Anthony Stancl was sentenced to 15 years in prison, with prosecutors claiming he posed as a girl on Facebook to trick his male classmates into sending him nude photos, which he'd then use to extort these classmates for sexual favors. And that's just a couple of the cases.
Internet privacy expert and attorney Parry Aftab, founder of WiredSafety.org says that while sextortion can happen to anyone, including adults like "Jen", teens are especially vulnerable. "When teens take and share sexual images, they don't want their parents or principal or police to get a hold of them," she explains. "So that means when a predator wants them to do things - take more images or actually engage in sex - they say that they will make them public or send them to their parents to get them to comply."
The key to stopping this, says Ross Ellis, founder of the advocacy group "Love Our Children USA", is teaching teens about the seriousness of sexting to begin with. If the photos don't exist, it's harder for someone to exploit you.
"Kids don't understand the consequences," she says. "Most girls will send a picture of themselves nude to their boyfriend thinking that, 'Oh it's just for my boyfriend' when they have no idea that their boyfriend is sending it to other people, could be spreading it on the Internet, or some Internet creep could be getting a hold of these pictures."
With sexting laws popping up in many states, she says parents need to talk to their kids about the serious consequences of taking and sending these photos...including child pornography charges in some cases. In fact, just having an underage nude photo, and not sending it out, could constitute as possession of child pornography in some cases and if convicted, your teen could go to jail and be registered as a sex offender.
What if you or your teen is being sextorted? Aftab says you need to go to the authorities immediately. "Whenever you're dealing with blackmail of any type, you need to get law enforcement involved," she says. "Extortion, blackmail, it's serious. And it's a crime. And that belongs in the hands of the police. What you need to do is get your children to come to you early enough that you can do something to help them. So many young people now have been successfully extorted into taking more pictures, engaging in actual sex, performing sexual services online and offline."
As for Jen, she eventually broke up with her boyfriend again--this time for good. But as far as she knows, those photos remain on his computer to this day. "They're still out there. And there's absolutely nothing I can do about it."
Save 40% 
