Stories Behind the Statistics: Sextortion, Suicide Prevention and Somebody's Kid
- Rachel Gilmore
- Sep 5
- 4 min read
Updated: Sep 8
By Rachel Gilmore, Marketing and Communications Manager
WARNING: This content contains triggers related to child sexual abuse and suicide.
As a mom of grown kids, I left the Dallas Crimes Against Children Conference with mixed emotions last month.
Part of me, selfishly, is thankful I raised my kids when the internet was just beginning to influence their social lives on and offline.
Part of me is terrified of what lies ahead for my kids, should they decide to become parents, as well as for my colleagues who are currently parenting.
Part of me is struggling with how best to share what I learned at the conference with CAC audiences without sounding alarmist or judgmental…because I’m neither an expert nor a direct service provider in the child advocacy world.
However, what became abundantly clear to me at the conference is that more people need to know what the data is showing about this generation of youth and their online interactions. People also need to hear the stories behind the statistics because if you look at the numbers, everybody knows somebody.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), youth-produced Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM, formerly known as child pornography) is on the rise. Yes, you read that correctly…youth-produced material is on the rise because of online enticement and threats.
According to research done by Thorn (a nonprofit dedicated to understanding and preventing online child sexual abuse), 1 in 5 teens personally experienced sextortion (being threatened with real or AI-generated sexual images of themselves). Another 1 in 5 knows a peer who experienced it.
61% of victims only knew the offender online.
While additional photos or videos are the most common demand from sextortionists, 22% of teens reported being financially extorted, and this number is rising.
A 2024 joint report by NCMEC and Thorn found that a majority of victims of financial sextortion incidents that were submitted to the NCMEC were teenage boys and 90% were between the ages of 14 and 17.
CAC’s CEO Melanie Pignotti is also a mom and a Dallas conference attendee. Even with her professional perspective, she echoed my concerns. “Despite working in this field for nearly two decades, I still find these cases, and the statistics behind them, deeply disturbing,” Melanie shared. “As a parent of a 10-year-old boy, I find them nothing short of terrifying. We know that harmful social norms around masculinity make boys more vulnerable. Many grow up believing they must be strong, silent and self-reliant, leaving little room to ask for help without shame. This silence can be dangerous.”
While children’s advocacy centers work tirelessly to help abuse survivors process their trauma, find hope and move forward, the reality is, not all kids are able to do that, for a variety of reasons. With September being National Suicide Prevention Month, I’d like to focus on the ones who were victimized through sextortion and believed there was no hope. This 2025 USA Today article by Rachel Hale shares the stories of six young men, boys really, who were sextorted and took their own lives as a result.
James. Jordan. Braden. Gavin. Riley. Carter. Theirs are the stories behind the statistics. While difficult to read, their voices need to be heard. They were everyday teens with families who loved them. No one expected them to be victims of online sexual abuse or for suicide to be their response.
“Hopelessness is a powerful driver of suicidal ideation,” Melanie added. “It traps young people in a mindset where pain feels permanent and escape seems impossible. When you add the intense shame and fear that comes from sextortion or the non-consensual sharing of CSAM, especially during adolescence, the weight can become unbearable.”
In her article, Hale quotes one of the boys’ mothers, Mary Rodee, as saying, “I always told Riley, ‘don’t do this, don’t do this, don’t do this,’ but I wish I had said, ‘but if you do, I’ll always love you no matter what, you’re never alone.’ All the things I thought he knew.”
As a mom, her words haunt me, as I’m sure I said the same thing to my now-grown kids about various childhood dangers they faced. But it’s a different world now. The speed at which online content can be created and spread and the degree to which it can be used for manipulation, coercion or other harmful intent multiplies exponentially every day, as do the number of child and teen victims.
While these issues are ugly and complicated and rapidly evolving, education is a weapon. CAC is committed to providing resources and information for caregivers, community members and others who care about kids and want them to know they’re never alone, no matter what. Because everybody knows somebody. And there’s always hope.
If you or a family member or friend are in immediate danger, call 911.
For the 24-hour sexual assault hotline, call 1.800.656.HOPE.
For the 24-hour suicide hotline in Illinois, call or text 988.
For a national 24-hour suicide hotline, call 1.800.273.TALK.
To learn more, visit: