This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Two Nigerian brothers pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiring to sexually exploit teenage boys. Sexual blackmail, or “sextortion” Two years after such a conspiracy led to the suicide of a Michigan teenager.
When Jordan Demay was 17 years old, he and Samuel Ogosi, 22, and his brother Samson Ogosi, 20, both Nigerians, used hacked accounts to pose as women on Instagram. He struck up a conversation with the teenager and eventually blackmailed him into sending money. He continued to make further threats until he took his own life in March 2022.
“Today’s guilty plea represents an extraordinary success in prosecuting international sextortion,” Mark Totten, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Michigan, said in a statement Wednesday. “These convictions will send a message to criminals in Nigeria and around the world: Working with our partners at home and abroad, we will find you and bring you to justice.”
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Nigerian brothers Samuel and Samson Ogosi pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiracy to commit extortion of minors. (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission)
He added: “I hope this guilty plea brings some relief to the family of Jordan Demay, who was killed in this crime. Of course, the job is not done. The Ogoe brothers will be sentenced later this year. and we are still seeking the extradition of the third defendant, Ezekiel Robert.”
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The Okoshi brothers could be sentenced to a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years on each count of conspiracy to commit sexual exploitation of a minor. The indictment against the two brothers alleges that they were involved in hundreds of similar schemes, many of which involved minors.
Jordan DeMay, 17, was the victim of a sextortion scheme and died by suicide. (Handout)
Robert, the third suspect charged in connection with the sextortion conspiracy that led to Demay’s death, is awaiting extradition to the United States.
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The same night the Ogosi couple began communicating with Demay through Instagram, the teenager sent explicit photos of himself to an account believed to belong to the woman. Prosecutors said Samuel Ogosi threatened to expose and “spread” the money online if Jordan didn’t send the money immediately. Jordan complied and transferred the money to the suspect, but the crime escalated from there as Okoshi demanded increasingly large amounts of money from the 17-year-old boy.
Jordan DeMay started chatting with someone he believed to be a woman on Instagram using the username “dani.robertts.” (Handout)
The exchange continued for hours over one night, and Jordan told Ogosi that he was going to commit suicide.
“Good,” he wrote. “Hurry up or I’ll make you do it. I swear to God.”
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From October 2021 to March 2023, the majority of victims of online financial extortion were young boys like Jordan DeMay. (Handout)
What is sextortion? Social media crime trends According to the FBI, from October 2021 to March 2023, the FBI reported at least 12,600 crimes in which a malicious actor entices a minor to engage in sexual activity or send extortion money. It said it had received more than 13,000 reports of online financial sextortion involving multiple victims.
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The FBI said in a press release earlier this year that the average age of sextortion victims is between 14 and 17, but the FBI noted that any child can become a victim. According to the FBI, perpetrators of financially motivated sextortion typically come from African and Southeast Asian countries. The FBI also confirmed a 20% increase in sextortion cases involving minors from October 2022 to March 2023.
The suspects in Jordan’s death were arrested on suspicion of hacking Instagram accounts and “sextorting” more than 100 young people online. (Handout)
Sextortion can lead to suicide and self-harm. From October 2021 to March 2023, the majority of victims of online financial extortion were juveniles. According to the FBI, these reports include at least 20 suicides.
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The National Center on Missing and Exploited Children has launched a new program called “Take It Down” aimed at helping victims of sextortion erase explicit images of their victims and dissuade malicious actors from sharing them online. We have created a free service called “. This tool can be accessed from: https://takeitdown.ncmec.org.
