Evers Signs ‘Bradyn’s Law’ to Fight Sextortion of Teens
Bipartisan law makes sexual extortion a felony; tougher penalties if it leads to suicide.
Laptop. (CC0 Public Domain).
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, call or text the three-digit suicide and crisis lifeline at 988. Resources are also available online here.
A new law in Wisconsin aims to fight the crime of “sextortion” — a manipulative act that’s on the rise, particularly among young people.
Under the law signed by Gov. Tony Evers on Monday, sextortion is described as coercing or threatening someone to provide sexual imagery or favors, or threatening to spread sexual or nude photos of a person in exchange for money or services.
Punishments for engaging in sextortion are higher, under the law, if the victim is a minor and the perpetrator is more than four years older, or if the extortion attempts are successful. A person can also be convicted of murder if the sextortion is found to have contributed to a death by suicide.
It’s named “Bradyn’s Law” to honor Bradyn Bohn, who died by suicide earlier this year after falling victim to a sextortion scam. His parents, Brittney and Luke Bird, spoke at the emotional bill signing ceremony, nine months after Bradyn’s death. They advocated for the law to protect other kids from falling victim in the same way.
“I have hope that we will take back control from these criminals and our children will no longer be pawns in their sick games,” said Brittney Bird. “The passing of Bradyn’s Law, to me, is perseverance and proof that we will fight for our children until the day that we join them again.”
Lawmakers from both parties backed Bradyn’s Law in response to the growing threat of sextortion crimes. Often, these crimes target young people, and scammers often pretend to be someone the victim’s own age and solicit intimate images. The scammers then threaten the victim, saying they’ll release the images if the victim doesn’t pay them.
“Sextortion represents one of the most urgent and widespread online harms that we’re seeing today,” said Emily Slifer, policy director at Thorn, a nonprofit that creates technology aimed at reducing child sexual abuse online. “This is one of those crime areas that unfortunately has grown at a rapid pace in the past two to three years, and it includes a lot of financially-motivated and sadistic schemes.”
The FBI reports receiving more than 13,000 reports of financial sextortion between October 2021 and March 202, with boys most likely to be the victim.
And according to Thorn’s research, about 1 in every 7 young person who experiences sextortion attempts self-harm. According to the FBI, at least 20 suicides can be linked to getting caught up in a financial sextortion scam.
The rise in this type of crime corresponds with evolutions in cybercrime as perpetrators target vulnerable young people, said Slifer.
“Criminals who work in this space are extremely technologically savvy and are always evolving and following new trends … to further exploit and abuse,” she said.
Wisconsin is not the only state to implement a law in response to the suicide of a young man. In 2023, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed “Gavin’s Law,” criminalizing sextortion in the name of Gavin Guffey. Guffey, the son of a South Carolina lawmaker, was 17 when he died by suicide after falling victim to a sextortion scheme.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice has established an Internet Crimes against Children Task Force, with resources for dealing with these kinds of incidents.
Slifer said that these crimes are often investigated at the federal level, because they often cross state or even national boundaries.
In the meantime, Slifer’s nonprofit encourages parents to have frequent and open conversations about this risk, so that kids don’t feel like they’ll be punished if they tell a trusted adult what has happened to them.
The Wisconsin DOJ also offers recommendations for navigating online exploitation:
- Report the crime to law enforcement or at Report.CyberTip.org.
- Remember, it’s not your fault.
- Even if you made a choice you regret, it’s never too late to get help.
- Tell a parent or trusted adult right away.
- Do not pay money or comply with the blackmailer’s requests.
- Report the account through the platform’s safety feature.
- Block the suspect, but DO NOT DELETE the messages or your profile.
Evers signs ‘Bradyn’s Law’ in effort to fight sextortion of teens was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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