LEXINGTON, S.C. – Lexington County deputies have, for the first time, brought forth a charge under “Gavin’s Law,” a law passed this year to combat sexual extortion.
Deputies have charged a 14-year-old male from Chapin with sexual extortion for his role in threatening to release doctored nude images associated with a female classmate, according to an incident report.
“Based on interviews with the students involved, someone took the face of a female classmate and digitally edited other nude images to make it look like the female was depicted in the images,” Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said. “We worked with school district officials to get to the bottom of this and determined a charge of sexual extortion against one student was warranted because he threatened to public share the images.”
The male, whose name will not be released because he is under the age of 18, was released to the custody of his parents. He will appear in Lexington County Family Court at a later date.
“This issue is something we are taking very seriously,’ Koon said. “With today’s technology, it’s all too easy to prey on innocent people. Those who try this should know ‘Gavin’s Law’ is a tool for us to charge anyone who intimidates or blackmails another person with explicit images, whether real or fake.”
Koon said teens and adults should report suspicious or harmful content, activity or accounts on social media apps if they feel unsafe.
“Gavin’s Law” is named after 17-year-old Gavin Guffey, a victim of sexual extortion that resulting in him taking his own life.