Sextortion Victims Speak Out
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The Doctors examine a dark and disturbing trend claiming victims worldwide -- sextortion. We speak with two victims of this crime.
Samantha and Ashley were both victims of Lucas Chansler's sexual blackmail case which reportedly had at least 350 victims who were teens and it went on for at least 3 years.
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Samantha says that when she was 12 someone on a social media site ask her and friend to flash their chests, which she says she did. She says 6 months later, she was contacted by Chansler who allegedly threatened to send out the nude photo unless she did as instructed. She tells us she feared he might ruin her life if she did not cooperate. She says that he then instructed her to go to a video chat website and take off her clothes. She says she remained on the video chat with him for 6 hours.
Ashley says she was contacted by Chansler when she was 14 and he claimed to have naked pictures of her and demanded that she send more. She says she did not have any nude photos but after he continued to bombard her with demands, she sent him nude photos. Ashley says he continued to contact her daily asking for more and more nude pictures.
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After Ashley's mom discovered what was happening, she contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. On June 9, 2010, the FBI raided Chansler's home. He was arrested on suspicion of trafficking in child pornography.
Samantha and Ashley join The Doctors and share that Chansler was sentenced to 105 years in prison.
Julie Cordua, CEO of Thorn -- a nonprofit created to stop online sexual abuse -- says her organization discovered this problem is far greater than ever anticipated. She says that in half of the cases her organization has researched the perpetrators carried out the threats they made against their victims.
In order protect your children from this horrible crime, Julie suggests:
If your child has an internet-connected device talk to them openly about this possible danger
Try to create an environment, where if something does happen, your child will feel comfortable coming to you to discuss it
If something does happen, she says to call National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
For more information and resources, visit www.stopsextortion.com and www.missingkids.com. Additional resources from the FBI are available here. If you believe you were a victim of the Lucas Chansler case, visit this website.
