ST. LOUIS — According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, sextortion is one of the greatest risks that kids and teens face online, but most parents don't understand how it happens.
Sextortion, a crime that happens when an adult convinces someone under 18 to share sexual pictures or perform sexual acts on a webcam, can start on any site, app, messaging platform or game where people meet and communicate, according to the FBI.
It often starts with young people believing they are talking to someone who is their own age that's interested in a relationship. After getting one or more pictures or videos, the criminal will then threaten to publish the content, according to the FBI.
That's why the Center for Missing & Exploited Children created "No Escape Room," an interactive film that helps parents experience what it feels like to get caught in online sextortion. The short film uses real messages from reported cases of sextortion and allows the viewer to choose how they would respond.
Click here to launch the interactive film.
Victim resources
If you believe you or someone you know is a victim of child sexual exploitation, call 911 immediately or report it using this online form.
The National Center of Missing and Exploited Children's free Take It Down service helps victims remove or stop the sharing of nude, partially nude or explicit content taken while under the age of 18. Click here to learn more.
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