army judge
Super Moderator
EL DORADO, Kan. (KWCH/Gray News) - A mother is left wondering why someone targeted her 14-year-old son in a sextortion scheme, causing him to take his own life.
Morgan Moore said her son, Caleb, was just like any other teenager.
"I couldn't have asked for a better son," she said. "He was very funny and mild-mannered, so he got along with everybody."
Caleb was the oldest of five children, excelled in sports and was getting ready to start his 8th-grade year.
"We were just getting excited to watch our boy grow up, and he just doesn't get to do that," Moore said.
On June 10, Caleb took his own life, dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His younger siblings were the ones who found him in the house.
"I just hit the floor in the kitchen," Moore said. "The police didn't want me to see it. Well, all four of my kids saw it."
Caleb's death was ruled a suicide. His parents did not see any signs that their son was under duress, but in the following days, while searching through Caleb's phone, police found that he had become a victim of sextortion.
"I believe that my son was murdered and that he was manipulated into doing something he did not want to do," Moore said.
Sextortion is when victims are tricked into sending revealing photos or videos to someone online, and then are demanded to send money. The victims are often blackmailed into following the demands and threatened that if they don't comply, those photos will be shared with their friends and family.
"He died terrified, scared and ashamed," Moore said.
Police discovered that Caleb had started messaging someone he believed was his age on TikTok, and that quickly turned into exchanging phone numbers.
Moore said her son messaged this person for a week and a half; however, during that time, his parents did not see any sign that something was off.
"Whatever they said was cruel enough and threatening enough that it stole all the hope and joy my boy had in just 35 minutes," said Moore.
Moore said that she can't emotionally pull herself to read the messages that her son had sent. However, from what the police told her, Caleb tried telling the person he was messaging just moments before taking his own life that he would harm himself if the threats did not stop.
The FBI is urgently warning parents about sextortion. Young boys between the ages of 14 and 17 are the primary targets.
From October 2021 to March 2023, investigators found 12,600 victims of sextortion. At least 20 of those cases ended in suicide, and that number is growing at an alarming rate.
The FBI reports that the predators are often traced back to other countries, specifically Nigeria, Ivory Coast and the Philippines.
In Caleb's case, it is believed that the person who messaged him was from outside the United States.
"Nobody deserves to die feeling that way, much less a really kind 14-year-old kid," Moore said.
In May, the Department of Justice announced that four men from the Ivory Coast were arrested on criminal charges after targeting thousands of victims in an international sextortion scheme.
The scheme tragically led to a teenage boy in California committing suicide in 2022.
Moore wants to see the same justice in her son's case.
She has turned her grief into a mission to advocate for more awareness of the warning signs of sextortion. She hopes her message reaches other families, so that parents can talk to their kids about the dangers of engaging with people online that they don't know.
"The fact that I haven't seen him in a month, haven't talked to him, haven't heard his voice, haven't had him come in my room to say he loves me, it breaks my heart," said Moore.
Here are tips from the FBI on what to look out for when posting or interacting with someone online:
Morgan Moore said her son, Caleb, was just like any other teenager.
"I couldn't have asked for a better son," she said. "He was very funny and mild-mannered, so he got along with everybody."
Caleb was the oldest of five children, excelled in sports and was getting ready to start his 8th-grade year.
"We were just getting excited to watch our boy grow up, and he just doesn't get to do that," Moore said.
On June 10, Caleb took his own life, dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His younger siblings were the ones who found him in the house.
"I just hit the floor in the kitchen," Moore said. "The police didn't want me to see it. Well, all four of my kids saw it."
Caleb's death was ruled a suicide. His parents did not see any signs that their son was under duress, but in the following days, while searching through Caleb's phone, police found that he had become a victim of sextortion.
"I believe that my son was murdered and that he was manipulated into doing something he did not want to do," Moore said.
Sextortion is when victims are tricked into sending revealing photos or videos to someone online, and then are demanded to send money. The victims are often blackmailed into following the demands and threatened that if they don't comply, those photos will be shared with their friends and family.
"He died terrified, scared and ashamed," Moore said.
Police discovered that Caleb had started messaging someone he believed was his age on TikTok, and that quickly turned into exchanging phone numbers.
Moore said her son messaged this person for a week and a half; however, during that time, his parents did not see any sign that something was off.
"Whatever they said was cruel enough and threatening enough that it stole all the hope and joy my boy had in just 35 minutes," said Moore.
Moore said that she can't emotionally pull herself to read the messages that her son had sent. However, from what the police told her, Caleb tried telling the person he was messaging just moments before taking his own life that he would harm himself if the threats did not stop.
The FBI is urgently warning parents about sextortion. Young boys between the ages of 14 and 17 are the primary targets.
From October 2021 to March 2023, investigators found 12,600 victims of sextortion. At least 20 of those cases ended in suicide, and that number is growing at an alarming rate.
The FBI reports that the predators are often traced back to other countries, specifically Nigeria, Ivory Coast and the Philippines.
In Caleb's case, it is believed that the person who messaged him was from outside the United States.
"Nobody deserves to die feeling that way, much less a really kind 14-year-old kid," Moore said.
In May, the Department of Justice announced that four men from the Ivory Coast were arrested on criminal charges after targeting thousands of victims in an international sextortion scheme.
The scheme tragically led to a teenage boy in California committing suicide in 2022.
Moore wants to see the same justice in her son's case.
She has turned her grief into a mission to advocate for more awareness of the warning signs of sextortion. She hopes her message reaches other families, so that parents can talk to their kids about the dangers of engaging with people online that they don't know.
"The fact that I haven't seen him in a month, haven't talked to him, haven't heard his voice, haven't had him come in my room to say he loves me, it breaks my heart," said Moore.
Here are tips from the FBI on what to look out for when posting or interacting with someone online:
- Be selective about what you share. A predator online can use information from your posts to learn about you and your personal life.
- Be cautious of anyone you meet for the first time online.
- Be aware that pictures are not proof that people are who they claim to be. Images can be altered or stolen.
- Be suspicious if you meet someone on one platform and they ask you to start talking on a different platform.
- Be in the know. Once you send something, you don't have any control over where it goes next.
- Be willing to ask for help. If you are getting messages or requests online that don't seem right, block the sender, report the behavior to the site administrator, or go to an adult. If you have been victimized online, tell someone.
