{"id":29177,"date":"2025-05-31T13:45:24","date_gmt":"2025-05-31T13:45:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/a-teen-died-after-being-blackmailed-with-a-i-generated-nudes-his-family-is-fighting-for-change\/"},"modified":"2025-05-31T13:45:24","modified_gmt":"2025-05-31T13:45:24","slug":"a-teen-died-after-being-blackmailed-with-a-i-generated-nudes-his-family-is-fighting-for-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/a-teen-died-after-being-blackmailed-with-a-i-generated-nudes-his-family-is-fighting-for-change\/","title":{"rendered":"A teen died after being blackmailed with A.I.-generated nudes. His family is fighting for change"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>Elijah Heacock was a vibrant teen who made people smile. He &#8220;wasn&#8217;t depressed, he wasn&#8217;t sad, he wasn&#8217;t angry,&#8221; father John Burnett told CBS Saturday Morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But when Elijah received a threatening text with an A.I.-generated nude photo of himself demanding he pay $3,000 to keep it from being sent to friends and family, everything changed. He died by suicide shortly after receiving the message, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newschannel10.com\/2025\/03\/24\/i-dont-want-another-mother-ever-face-this-officials-investigate-possible-sextortion-case-after-teens-death\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CBS affiliate KFDA reported<\/a>. Burnett and Elijah&#8217;s mother, Shannon Heacock, didn&#8217;t know what had happened until they found the messages on his phone.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Elijah was the victim of a <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/combating-child-exploitation\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">sextortion scam<\/a><\/span>, where bad actors target young people online and threaten to release explicit images of them. Scammers often ask for money or coerce their victims into performing harmful acts. Elijah&#8217;s parents said they had never even heard of the term until the investigation into his death.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The people that are after our children are well organized,&#8221; Burnett said. &#8220;They are well financed, and they are relentless.They don&#8217;t need the photos to be real, they can generate whatever they want, and then they use it to blackmail the child.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-medium\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/05\/31\/92f363b4-6fef-40b6-9ec4-3e77fc54e35c\/thumbnail\/620x349\/d2fe535502d0cd0e68e55fa12d39866a\/0531-satmo-valdes.jpg?v=15603985a4508c8e7bc83d8e4e73c5d0#\" alt=\"0531-satmo-valdes.jpg \" height=\"349\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/05\/31\/92f363b4-6fef-40b6-9ec4-3e77fc54e35c\/thumbnail\/620x349\/d2fe535502d0cd0e68e55fa12d39866a\/0531-satmo-valdes.jpg?v=15603985a4508c8e7bc83d8e4e73c5d0 1x, https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/05\/31\/92f363b4-6fef-40b6-9ec4-3e77fc54e35c\/thumbnail\/1240x698\/a0e4e9dcf47b22ac73bb23c6729faab2\/0531-satmo-valdes.jpg?v=15603985a4508c8e7bc83d8e4e73c5d0 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">Elijah Heacock, left, and John Burnett, center, with Heacock&#8217;s younger brother.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                CBS Saturday Morning<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>The origins of sextortion scams<\/h2>\n<p>Reports of the scheme have skyrocketed: The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said it received more than 500,000 reports of sextortion scams targeting minors in just the last year. At least 20 young people have taken their own lives because of sextortion scams since 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fbi.gov\/contact-us\/field-offices\/nashville\/news\/sextortion-a-growing-threat-targeting-minors\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">estimates<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Teen boys have been specifically targeted, the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/video\/financial-sextortion-scams-targeting-teen-boys\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">NCMEC said in 2023<\/a>, and with the rise in\u00a0<span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/deepfakes-meteorologist-bree-smith-image-doctored-sextortion-scams\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">generative A.I.<\/a><\/span> services, the images don&#8217;t even need to be real. More than 100,000 reports filed with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children this year involved generative A.I., the organization said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You don&#8217;t actually need any technical skills at this point to create this kind of illegal and harmful material,&#8221; Dr. Rebecca Portnoff, the head of data science at Thorn, a non-profit focused on preventing child exploitation online, said. Just looking up how to make a nude image of someone will bring up search results for apps, websites and other resources, Portnoff said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The crisis may seem overwhelming. But there are solutions, Portnoff said. Thorn has its own <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thorn.org\/blog\/now-is-the-time-for-safety-by-design\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">initiative<\/a>, &#8220;Safety By Design,&#8221; which outlines barriers A.I. companies should set when developing their technology. Those barriers are designed to help reduce sextortion, Thorn said. A handful of major A.I. companies have agreed to the campaign principles, Thorn <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thorn.org\/blog\/thorns-safety-by-design-for-generative-ai-progress-reports\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">says<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-video embed--type-content_video is-video embed--float-left embed--size-medium\"><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n                              <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/video\/meta-issues-a-warning-about-increasing-sextortion-scams-heres-how-to-stay-safe\/\" class=\"embed__headline-link\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\"><\/p>\n<p>          <span class=\"embed__icon\"><br \/>\n            <svg viewbox=\"0 0 32 32\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n              <use xlink:href=\"#icon-video\"\/>\n            <\/svg><br \/>\n          <\/span><\/p>\n<p>          <span class=\"embed__headline\">Meta issues a warning about increasing sextortion scams. Here&#8217;s how to stay safe.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>          <span class=\"embed__video-duration\">03:16<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                      <\/a><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&#8220;There are real, tangible solutions that do exist that are being deployed today that can help to prevent this kind of misuse,&#8221; Portnoff said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Government entities are also working to fight sextortion. The recently-passed <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/trump-signs-take-it-down-act-revenge-porn-bill-melania-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">&#8220;Take It Down&#8221; Act<\/a><\/span>, championed by Melania Trump and signed into law by President Trump, makes it a federal crime to post real and fake sexually explicit images of someone online without their consent. The law also requires social media companies and other websites to remove such images within 48 hours of a victim&#8217;s request.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Elijah&#8217;s parents said they never want other families to suffer like they have. They have fought for change, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wlky.com\/article\/kentucky-sextortion-felony-teen-suicide\/64246216\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CBS affiliate WLKY reported<\/a>. They said they hope the <span class=\"link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/social-media-safety-children-sextortion-report-act-ossoff-blackburn\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">&#8220;Take It Down&#8221; Act<\/a><\/span> will make a difference.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s kind of like a bullet in a war. It&#8217;s not going to win the war,&#8221; Burnett said. &#8220;No war is ever won by one bullet. You got to win battles. You got to win fights. And we&#8217;re in it.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- data-recirc-source=\"queryly\" --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"component list recirculation component--type-recirculation \">\n        <\/aside>\n<p>    <!-- tags --><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-author\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/search\/author\/nicole-valdes\/\" class=\"content-author__name\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\">Nicole  Valdes<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-author__bio\">\n<div class=\"content-author__full-information\">\n<p class=\"content-author__text\">Nicole Valdes is a correspondent based in Nashville. Valdes was most recently a weather correspondent with FOX Weather. Since joining FOX Weather in 2021, Valdes covered breaking and developing weather-related news for the streaming service. Valdes\u202freported from nearly 40 states, leading network coverage of Hurricane Ian&#8217;s impact on Florida, as well as countless tornadoes, flood, and wildfires. As a proud bilingual\u202fjournalist, Valdes put her skills forward to produce and report an in-depth piece on Hurricane Maria&#8217;s impact to Puerto Rico.\u202fPrior to this role, Valdes worked as a reporter and fill-in anchor in Phoenix, Arizona, where she led the station&#8217;s coverage of the 2020 Presidential election. She was also a multimedia journalist for the CBS-affiliate in Fort Myers, Florida. Valdes graduated from the University of Florida in Gainesville.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/sextortion-generative-ai-scam-elijah-heacock-take-it-down-act\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Elijah Heacock was a vibrant teen who made people smile. He &#8220;wasn&#8217;t depressed, he wasn&#8217;t sad, he wasn&#8217;t angry,&#8221; father<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29178,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[213,6665],"class_list":["post-29177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-sextortion"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A teen died after being blackmailed with A.I.-generated nudes. His family is fighting for change - World News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Elijah Heacock&amp;#039;s parents had never heard of sextortion before their son died by suicide. 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