By State Rep. Brent Jacobson, 87th District
Last month, our community suffered a devastating loss when 15-year-old Bradyn Bohn took his own life after becoming a victim of sex extortion, commonly called “sextortion”. Tragically, this incident is part of a growing trend in Wisconsin and across the nation. Last year alone, the Wisconsin Department of Justice received 237 cybertips related to sextortion, and they have already received 103 this year. The majority of sextortion victims are young men under the age of 18, and there have been many cases across the country that have ended in a victim committing suicide.
Like many of you, I was deeply touched by this incident, and I have committed myself to working to prevent any other family in Wisconsin from experiencing a tragedy like this. On Wednesday, I joined several colleagues from Northcentral Wisconsin to introduce Bradyn’s Law, a bill to help combat sextortion. Bradyn’s Law would do the following:
- Recognizes sextortion as a felony crime in State Law, with higher penalties if the victim is a child.
- In cases where a person being sexually extorted dies as a result, the person responsible can be charged for felony murder.
- Allows a victim of sextortion or their family to be eligible for compensation from the Crime Victim Compensation Program.
Along with Representative Snyder (R – Weston), Representative Spiros (R – Marshfield), Senator James (R – Altoona), and Senator Tomczyk (R – Mosinee), I am committed to seeing this bill pass. No family should ever have to experience the loss of a child to sextortion. Bradyn’s Law takes necessary steps to keep Wisconsin’s children safe from those who would prey on them.
Related information on sextortion
Sexual extortion, also known as sextortion, occurs when an offender coerces or tricks a minor into sending them sexually explicit images or video footage and then threatens to release that material unless the minor produces additional explicit content. Or, in the case of financially motivated sextortion, the offender will demand payment instead of more sexual content. Read The Daily Wire story here.