Teen Sextortion: What the Data Show

[Paul Raffile]: To put some data to this, there were only 139 reported cases of financially-motivated sexual extortion targeting minors in the US in 2021. 139. Fast forward to 2024, and there were 36,000 reported cases. Now, of course, that’s just the reported cases. And we know that very few of these victims actually report because this is a crime of embarrassment, a crime of shame. So we look, you know – I commend Snapchat for doing the research here saying that 51% of teens have been targeted in extortion schemes, and 23% have actually been victimized. This is 2024 research. Now, if we look back to any of the nationwide studies before 2021, they all say something like 1%, 2%, 3% of the population has been victims of sexual blackmail and extortion. Now Snapchat themselves, they’re saying 23%. That’s like a tenfold increase. It’s a quarter of the population.