PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) — Oregon officials have found there was an almost nine-fold increase in child sexual extortion cases in just five years.
Citing data from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Oregon Attorney General’s Office revealed that “sextortion” cases involving minors surged by 857% from 2020 to 2024.
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The Oregon Department of Justice defined “sextortion” as a form of blackmail in which children befriend strangers posing as their peers on social media, who later ask them to send sexually explicit images of themselves. The strangers then threaten to distribute the photos if the child doesn’t send them money.
Years after the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Portland Field Office revealed an increase in sextortion directed at teenage boys, ODOJ is reporting this “alarming trend” has continued to impact children nationwide. Agencies are now striving to raise awareness in honor of Safer Internet Day — which falls on Feb. 11…