LANSING, Mich — It's been two years since 17-year-old Jordan Demay, of Marquette, took his own life. Jordan was a victim of sextortion.
Now lawmakers in Michigan are working to strengthen the laws surrounding sextortion.
“This is not a victimless crime," explained State Representative John Fitzgerald (D), who sponsored the bills. “We see an increase in cases of young people being extorted in this way, hundreds of cases every single year."
The package of bills, House Bills 5887, 5888, and 5889 of 2024 addresses various avenues within the crime of sextortion.
“This is really setting up the stage for charging people with the crime of sexually extorting someone or sextorting somebody," said Rep. Fitzgerald.
A big part of that is updating the guidelines for sentencing when someone is charged with sextortion.
“Updating the guidelines for sentencing are charging somebody with these crimes, this is now going to be a felony charge," emphasized Rep. Fitzgerald.
On top of sentencing, the three bills will also address education.
“Public education working with law enforcement can really stay on top of this, as it changes over time," explained State Representative Jenn Hill (D-109).
The National Center for Missing and Expoited Children (NCMEC) released the number of financial sextortion reports received from electronic service providers for the first time.
The agency said over 10,000 reports were filed in 2022, but a huge spike in reports started in 2023— jumping to over 26,000 reports, starting with a huge spike in May.
"In cases of financial sextortion, victims often send nude or sexually explicit photos to someone online who they think they know. But, during these sextortion scenarios, the person on the other end of the chat happens to be someone else entirely. Once the offender has the photos of the child, they threaten to release them and blackmail the victim by demanding money to keep the images private."
— National Center for Missing and Expoited Children
HB-5887, also known as "Jordan D's Law," addresses education by allowing school districts to collaborate with local law enforcement when it comes to social media related crimes. Part of that is actually going to schools, and addressing sextortion, before it can even happen.
For the Demay family, they know this won't bring Jordan back. But - they know its going to save more kids in the future.
"I definitely felt overwhelmed by it,” explained Jennifer Buta, Jordan's mother.
Federal investigators say Jordan fell victim to a global sextortion ring run out of Nigeria. His mom says Jordan started messaging with someone on Instagram, including an exchange of images. Then the account demanded Jordan pay them a $1,000 or the photos would be published online.
READ MORE: The dangers of sextortion
“At some point in the the early morning hours of March 25th, 2022, he said that he was going to kill himself and the suspects told them told him go ahead and kill yourself,” said Buta.
Two men from Nigeria took plea deals in the federal case, admitting to just one charge while agreeing to work with investigators. Those men could spend up to 30 years in prison.
A third suspect remains in Nigeria as he fights extradition to the U.S.
“This is a bipartisan issue. And it's really important for the children and families of Michigan," emphasized Buta.
When asked how she feels about the law being named after her son, Buta replied, "I guess I don't know if proud is the right word."
The bills were introduced in Michigan's house in late June then referred to the Committee on Criminal Justice for further review. No hearing has been set on the bills.
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