A Nigerian man was extradited to the U.S. after he was indicted in reference to the sextortion of a South Carolina teen who died by suicide, the Justice Division stated Monday.
Hassanbunhussein Abolore Lawal, 24, allegedly posed as a younger lady on social media and acquired 17-year-old Gavin Guffey to ship him “compromising pictures,” the Justice Division stated. Lawal then allegedly threatened to break Guffey’s repute by leaking the pictures until he despatched Lawal cash, the Justice Division stated.
Guffey, the son of South Carolina state Rep. Brandon Guffey, died by suicide in 2022.
Lawal was indicted in October 2023 on expenses of kid exploitation leading to demise, distribution of kid pornography, coercion and enticement of a minor to have interaction in sexual exercise, cyberstalking leading to demise and tried extortion.
“We is not going to enable predators who goal our youngsters to cover behind a keyboard or throughout the ocean. Right this moment we honor Gavin’s life and proceed our combat in opposition to sextortion by holding this defendant accountable,” U.S. Legal professional Adair Ford Boroughs for the District of South Carolina stated in a statement.
The State
Lawal faces as much as life in jail and necessary restitution, the place the courtroom might order him to pay for losses incurred by the household because of his scheme.
After Guffey’s demise, Brandon Guffey sponsored a invoice often called Gavin’s Law, which made sexual extortion “a felony offense and an aggravated felony if the sufferer is a minor, weak grownup, or if the sufferer suffers bodily damage or demise straight associated to the crime.” South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed the bill into regulation in August 2023.
Social media large Meta warned in July that sexual extortion scams are on the rise, with criminals from Nigeria incessantly concentrating on grownup males within the U.S. Meta stated it had eliminated about 63,000 accounts from Nigeria that had been making an attempt to focus on folks with monetary sextortion scams.
Should you or somebody you recognize is in emotional misery or a suicidal disaster, you’ll be able to attain the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988. You can too chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline here.
For extra details about mental health care resources and support, The Nationwide Alliance on Psychological Sickness HelpLine might be reached Monday by means of Friday, 10 a.m.–10 p.m. ET, at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or electronic mail info@nami.org.
