Submitted by Adam Kastonek – Public Information Officer, St. Croix County
St. Croix County, WI – St. Croix County Children Services, in partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Justice and several local organizations, hosted the free community awareness event, “Protecting Our Youth: Understanding Sextortion,” on October 8, 2025, at St. Croix Central High School in Hammond, WI.
The event brought together parents, caregivers, educators, and community members to learn how to recognize, prevent, and respond to sextortion, a growing online crime that targets youth through manipulation and exploitation. Attendees heard from experts and community partners about what sextortion is, how it happens, the warning signs, and how to support youth who may be affected. The evening featured presentations from Brittney Bird and John DeMay, who shared their personal experiences after losing a child to sextortion.
“Sextortion is a difficult topic to discuss, but even harder to ignore,” said Rachel Johnson, Social Worker, and Emily Anderson, Case Manager, with St. Croix County Children Services. “By coming together, learning the signs, and supporting each other, we can help protect our youth and prevent future tragedies. We extend our gratitude to everyone who attended, and to the sponsors, donors, and volunteers who made this event possible.”
A special thank you to the local organizations involved in this event: Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ). Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC). TurningPoint. NAMI St. Croix Valley. Family Therapy Associates. St. Croix Valley Sexual Assault Response Team (SART). Living Well Together. St. Croix County Behavioral Health. St. Croix County Public Health.
In addition to the above press release from Adam Kastonek. The Woodville Leader followed up to learn more about the topic of “Sextortion.” This is what Google and the AI Overview stated:
“Sextortion is a form of blackmail in which a person uses a victim’s sexually explicit images or videos to demand money, more images, or other sexual acts.
Perpetrators, also called sextortionists, threaten to share the materials with the victim’s friends, family, and public social media accounts to coerce them into compliance.
While anyone can be a target, criminals most often prey on children and young adults by first building a romantic or trusting relationship.
Common sextortion tactics
Sextortion can occur through various methods and online platforms, including social media, dating apps, and gaming sites.
Grooming and deception
- Building trust: Perpetrators create fake online personas and spend time building a rapport with the victim, often pretending to be someone their age.
- “Catfishing”: They may use fake photos and profiles to pose as someone they are not.
- Flattery and emotional manipulation: The abuser might use compliments or sob stories to make the victim feel special, valued, or sorry for them.
- Pressure to switch platforms: Criminals often push to move conversations from public social media to encrypted or private messaging apps to make tracking more difficult.
Image acquisition and coercion
- Secretly recording: Sextortionists may secretly record explicit videos during live chats, sometimes after pretending their own camera is broken.
- Hacking: They might gain unauthorized access to a victim’s accounts or devices to steal images and other sensitive information.
- Artificial intelligence: Some scammers use AI to create fake explicit images and threaten to share them.
- Financial demand: Once they have compromising material, perpetrators will demand money, gift cards, or cryptocurrency in exchange for not publishing the content.
How to prevent sextortion
- Protect personal information. Set your social media accounts to private and be selective about what you share online. Hackers can piece together personal details from public posts.
- Be wary of strangers. Do not accept friend requests or messages from people you do not know in real life. Remember that people online are not always who they claim to be.
- Be cautious with online connections. If a new online connection tries to rush the relationship or makes excuses for not meeting face-to-face or using a camera, be suspicious.
- Do not share intimate content. Understand that once you send an image or video, you lose control of it forever.
- Cover your webcam. When not in use, assume your webcam could be remotely activated and cover it with tape or a sticker.” (End of Google info.)
A full recording of the ‘Sextortion’ awareness event is available on the St. Croix Central School District’s YouTube channel: youtube.com/live/ewwxm7Zz_M0. Parental discretion is advised due to the sensitive nature of the presentation. The views shared in this recording are those of the individual presenters.
Find Help and Learn More
If you or someone is experiencing sextortion, contact local law enforcement immediately. Here are additional sextortion prevention and metal health resources:
- National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC): Learn more about sextortion prevention and online safety at missingkids.org/theissues/sextortion.
- Take It Down: If you or someone you know is a victim of exploitative content online, this resource can help remove images and videos. Visit takeitdown.ncmec.org.
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: You are not alone. If you need someone to talk to call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org.
