CHAPIN, S.C. — A 14-year-old boy is the first person in Lexington County to be charged under a new law that aims to fight sexual extortion, authorities say.
The Lexington County Sheriff's Department announced Friday that the Chapin teen was charged under "Gavin's Law," passed this year to combat the practice. The teen is accused of sexual extortion "for his role in threatening to release doctored nude images associated with a female classmate," the sheriff's department said in a statement.
"Based on interviews with the students involved, someone took the face of a female classmate and digitally edited other nude images to make it look like the female was depicted in the images," Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said in Friday's statement.
The sheriff said the school district worked with deputies to determine if the charge was warranted. The teen was charged and released to his parents with a scheduled future appearance in Lexington County Family Court. Authorities said the teen's name isn't being released because he is under 18.
"Gavin's Law" is named after a 17-year-old victim of sexual extortion who took his own life as a result. Sheriff Koon urged teens and adults to report this type of content and the accounts on social media associated with it.
"With today's technology, it's all too easy to prey on innocent people," he said. "Those who try this should know 'Gavin's Law' is a tool for us to charge anyone who intimidates or blackmails another person with explicit images, whether real or fake."