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Recently contacted by the concerned parents of a 15-year-old girl who fell victim to photo manipulation by a group of boys in her age group.
By the time the girl and her parents were made aware of what was going on, the situation had escalated from photo manipulation to extortion, where the girl was being blackmailed into sending explicit photos of herself to an unknown party on social media.
COURSE OF EVENTS
PHOTO CREATION/MANIPULATION:
The situation started when a 15-year-old boy downloaded a photo of the girl from her Facebook profile onto his mobile phone.
The boy then made use of a third-party web application to edit the downloaded photo of the girl to the point where the girl in the photo was naked.
DISTRIBUTION:
Once the photo was created, the boy sent it to one of his friends via WhatsApp messenger.
The photo was kept between the two boys as an inside secret for some time, but eventually, news of the photo leaked out to a third boy.
The third boy gained access to one of the mobile phones where the photo was saved, and he forwarded a copy of the photo to himself without informing the other boys of what he had done.
From that point forward, the photo was distributed to several parties, eventually reaching another school, where it was also being distributed amongst the children.
BLACKMAIL/SEXTORTION:
Unaware of the photo’s existence, the girl was browsing her social media accounts when she received a private message request from an unknown party.
The account appeared to belong to a schoolgirl and the request was accepted.
A casual conversation started, but the other party soon initiated, hinting they had something to show the girl.
After several back-and-forth messages, the girl received a message with her photo followed by the words:
“I want more photos, or I will share this photo with everyone on your social media.”
The girl was completely shocked, not knowing how someone might have had a photo of her naked.
Initially, she did not recognise the image, and she was distraught, wondering to herself how someone managed to photograph her nude.
She responded to the message, asking where the person got the photo, but her questions were answered with more threats and blackmail.
The party on the other end of the conversation requested pictures of the girl naked and instructed her behaviour while filming it.
The girl refused to give in to the sextortion and approached her parents about it.
Her parents assisted her in blocking the profile on social media, and not long after, the news of the photo’s origin came out.
The girl’s parents appointed Specialised Security Services to investigate the case.
Subsequently, the two boys who initially created and leaked the photo were identified and contact with their parents was made.
To date, the party responsible for blackmailing the girl has not been identified; the investigation is still ongoing.
When the girl was informed of just how far the photo had been distributed, she was in complete shock that it could happen without her finding out about it.
The young victim is currently receiving assistance to help her process what had happened and overcome the embarrassment of the entire ordeal.
The boys were confronted with the reality of what they had done and the necessary steps are being taken with them.
WE WARN THE PUBLIC THAT CREATING, DISTRIBUTING OR HAVING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY IN YOUR POSSESSION IS A CRIME PUNISHABLE BY LAW!
How the law defines child pornography:
“child pornography” includes any image, however, created, or any description of a person, actual or simulated, who is or who is depicted, made to appear, look like, represented or described as being, under the age of 18 years - (a) engaged in sexual conduct; (b) participating in, or assisting another person in participating in, sexual conduct; or (c) showing or describing the body, or parts of the body, of such a person in a manner or in circumstances which, within context, amounts to sexual exploitation, or in such a manner that it is capable of being used for the purposes of sexual exploitation; [Definition of “child pornography” inserted by s. 1 (a) of Act No. 34 of 1999, amended by s. 1 (a) of Act No. 18 of 2004 and substituted by s. 1 (c) of Act No. 3 of 2009.] “distribute” in relation to a film or a publication, without derogating from the ordinary meaning of that word, includes to sell, hire out or offer or keep for sale or hire and, for purposes of sections 24A and 24B, includes to hand or exhibit a film, game or a publication to a person under the age of 18 years, and also the failure to take reasonable steps to prevent access thereto by such a person; [Definition of “distribute” substituted by s. 1 (c) of Act No. 18 of 2004 and by s. 1 (e) of Act No. 3 of 2009.]
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CHILDREN ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
Always report unsolicited conversations or content on social media to your parents.
Avoid posting photos of yourself on social media.
Avoid entering adult chat sites.
Never engage in conversation with unidentified parties on social media.
When posting photos on social media, make sure that the background content does not reveal personal information about yourself, such as your address, contact information, personal credentials, etc.
Keep a close friend circle on social media.
Only include people you know and trust.
Do not take part in the sharing or distributing of explicit content.
Think before you do and remember that the internet is permanent.
Clean up your phone of any unwanted content, keep it clean and keep the content protected.
Specialised Security Services invites the public to the Mike Bolhuis Daily Projects WhatsApp Group. This group is important in delivering insights into the latest crime trends, awareness, warnings and the exposure of criminals.
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• Follow the link to our WhatsApp group:
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Regards,
Mike Bolhuis
Specialist Investigators into
Serious Violent, Serious Economic Crimes & Serious Cybercrimes
PSIRA Reg. 1590364/421949
Mobile: +27 82 447 6116
E-mail: mike@mikebolhuis.co.za
Fax: 086 585 4924
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