The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Department says they have investigated two sextortion cases in the past month and they are working with UNL Police and the Lincoln Police Department to raise awareness about the dangers associated with the schemes.
“The way that this crime usually works is kids will get in touch with someone on a gaming platform or a text messaging app,” says LSO Captain John Vik. “Unfortunately, there are predators out there that will turn a conversation with a child into a situation where they are asking for inappropriate photographs posing as a another child of similar age.”
Vik says the predator will then demand or extort money from the child. If money isn’t sent the predator will threaten to send the photos to family and friends. Officials say a kid would face extortion for the money in threat of sending the photos to family and friends.
“The big thing that we want to get out to parents is the way to get out in front of this, you have to have relationships with your kids, have open channels of communication,” Vik says. He says they are working with UNL Police and Lincoln Police Department is raising awareness about the crimes, which are on the rise nationally.
“We really want to let people know that if they have been subjected to one of these sextortion claims contact us. We’ve got resources and we can help.”