JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Starting Tuesday, Jacksonville families have a new place to call if a child is being targeted in an online sextortion scheme. State Attorney Melissa Nelson’s office is teaming up with the Jaguars on it, and crisis counselors are now trained to help victims in the moment.
The effort targets a lesser-discussed crime: sextortion. Financial sextortion is when a predator demands money or gift cards in exchange for keeping someone’s explicit images private. Nelson says victims are typically boys between 14 and 17, often athletes. The FBI warns it can all unfold in as little as five minutes.
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“Someone using a fake identity persuades a young person to send an explicit photo, and then come threats. Pay me or I’ll send this photo to your friends, your family, your coaches,” Nelson said.
In 2025, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children got an average of 137 reports a day, up 37 percent from the year before. Nelson says more than 50 American teenagers have died by suicide in connection with sextortion since 2021.
Now, Here Tomorrow’s crisis line is ready for those calls. About 20 of its employees are trained to help sextortion victims in the moment.
“We want to be a safe space for the teens calling in because sometimes they are just extremely frightened that their parents are going to find out, but actually they are the victim in these incidents,” said Terry Andrews, president and CEO of Here Tomorrow.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are giving $10,000 to help fund the crisis line. You’ll also see the number posted around EverBank Stadium.
Nelson says a lot of this starts on gaming platforms, and there’s one red flag parents should watch for.
“When a person communicating with a youth wants to take the conversation off the gaming platform and onto another platform, that is a red flag,” Nelson said.
“We protect our homes with cameras and locks and security devices. And this crime can occur in our kids’ bedrooms, or in front of their monitor in our garages, without us even knowing,” Nelson said.
Her advice to parents: talk to your kids about it, again and again.
The State Attorney’s Office and Here Tomorrow have both put guides online for parents and teens on what to do if it happens to you.
Here Tomorrow crisis line: 904-222-6988988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988.
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