Sextortionists sent South Carolina Rep. Brandon Guffey sick message after son’s suicideBy Lee Brown
May 16, 2023
Sextortionists sent a grieving South Carolina lawmaker a sick message gloating about driving his teenage son to suicide — while threatening to release nude photos and demanding more money.
State Rep. Brandon Guffey, 54, told CNN that he got the Instagram message on the day his son Gavin would have turned 18 — and less than a month after he found him dead last year at their family home in Rock Hill.
“It said, ‘Did I tell you your son begged for his life,’ with a laughing face emoji,” Guffey told the outlet.
The sick, tragic crime was behind Guffey introducing “Gavin’s Law,” which was passed by state senators Thursday and is expected to be signed into law soon.
It threatens scammers who extort a minor or an at-risk adult with up to five years in prison for a first offense.
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The sick plot emerged in part after the sextortionists started barraging Guffey and his family — including his younger son, Coen, 16 — with Instagram messages demanding more money.
They then realized that Gavin thought he was sharing nude photos with a young woman who first sent him pics — only to be told they’d be released to everyone he knew unless he paid blackmail.
Gavin had used Venmo to send the scammers all the money he had: $25.
“He was telling them he would get them more money, please don’t send these images out,” Guffey told CNN.
“They didn’t care.”
The grieving dad said the scammers used disappearing messages to make “kids feel safe” that their intimate pics would be scrubbed.
“What they don’t realize is, someone has another device recording that device,” he said.
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2023/05/16/sextortionists-sick-message-to-sc-lawmaker-after-sons-suicide/
