A 17-year-old American, Jordan DeMay, has allegedly committed suicide because three Nigerian nationals blackmailed him with a nude photo.
The suspects, Samuel Ogoshi, 22; Samson Ogochi, 20; and Ezekiel Ejehem Robert, 19 have been charged in the death of the Michigan teenager.
The three men were arrested in Lagos state, Nigerua and are awaiting extradition to the United States.
Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, Mark Totten on Wednesday, May 3rd, announced the unsealing of a federal indictment charging the suspects with sexually extorting numerous young men and teenage boys in the Western District of Michigan and across the United States.
“On March 25, 2022, 17-year-old DeMay was found dead from a self-inflicted g¥nshot wound. His death prompted an investigation by the Marquette County Sheriff’s Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which culminated in the indictment unsealed today.
Sextortion is a horrible crime that can leave especially younger victims feeling ashamed with nowhere to turn.
My heart goes out to the family of Jordan DeMay. Nothing can bring Jordan back, but my office is committed to securing justice and, alongside Jordan’s family, sending an urgent warning so others can protect themselves and their families. We will travel the world to hold the perpetrators of these crimes accountable,” Totten said.
Ezekiel Roberts, Samson and Samuel Ogoshi are accused of buying hacked social media accounts and using them to pose as girls while interacting with boys.
Officials say they initiated chats which were sexual in nature and designed to lure the teenage boys into sending nude photos of themselves.
In the course of chatting with a boy, the suspects would research his school, hometown, and family members. They would ask for sexually explicit images and then place those images into collages including non-sexual images taken from social media.
Those collages also included pictures of family members, friends, and classmates, officials said. Eventually, the trio would use the collages as blackmail, threatening to send them to everyone on social media unless a fee was paid.
More than 100 people were targeted in this sextortion scheme, according to court records. They face a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison, if found guilty.