Incident Description
A child in year 10 has been blackmailed by somebody after sending them a naked photograph. The student had been followed by a random person on social media, over months they had communicated and eventually swapped mobile numbers. They began to communicate over WhatsApp. The person asked for a series of photographs and eventually asked for a naked image. The student sent the image and they were immediately blackmailed.
The adult asked for an iTunes/prepaid card for £100 which should be sent to a post box address in another country.
Guidance for Safeguarding Response
- Reported to police as possible sexual extortion and an investigation was completed. The man was identified as a 20-30 year old male from another country
- School offered 1:1 sessions with the child around identifying risks online and critically evaluating online relationships
- Counselling was also offered to the child
- School were also made aware, if you are under 18, you can report sextortion, or any other form of online child sexual abuse, to the National Crime Agency’s Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Safety Centre.
Additional actions which could be considered:
- Pol-ed sessions for the wider peer group from secondary resources such as ‘What is child sexual exploitation?’, ‘What is imaged based sexual abuse?’
Agencies Involved in this Incident
Police involved.
Childline can help victims to get shared images removed from the internet