MADISON, Wis. (WRN) — Wisconsin has seen a rise in reported sextortion cases against teens.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice says there have already been over 100 sextortion cases reported this year.
Special agent Jesse Crowe tells the Journal Sentinel that number only counts tips pulled from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tipline and not cases reported by Wisconsin law enforcement. Sextortion targets teens, pressuring them into handing over money or sexually explicit pictures by threatening to expose them to peers or parents.
A new state law making sextortion a crime was quickly passed by the Legislature last year after two victims died by suicide due to sextortion threats.