Until that night...

As a 16-year-old, Walker Montgomery enjoyed hunting, playing football, and spending time with his family. But on the night of November 30, 2022, everything changed. Within hours, Walker became a fatal victim of sextortion.

Sextortion occurs when an adult offender, usually disguised as someone else, entices a minor to create and send sexually explicit content via various online messaging platforms. Once the content is obtained, the criminal then threatens to share those photos or videos if the victim does not continue sending other sexual content. In the case of online financial sextortion, which is what happened to Walker, the offender blackmails the victim until he or she sends money.  

According to reports from the FBI and Homeland Security, from October 2021 to March 2023, the organizations received more than “13,000 reports of online financial sextortion of minors. The sextortion involved at least 12,600 victims – primarily boys – and led to at least 20 suicides.”

Walker was one of them.

What happened?

After eating supper together, the Montgomery family carried out their usual nighttime routines. Around midnight, before going to sleep, Walker logged on to his Instagram account. There, he found a message from a girl he did not know but who claimed to be near his age and have mutual friends. Thinking it was just a casual conversation, the two began discussing things such as school, hobbies, and more.

Shortly after initiating the dialogue, the girl invited Walker to join a video call through the app. He accepted, and before long, the talk took a dramatic turn, when Walker was enticed to have a “sexual encounter” during the call.

“Walker didn’t know it, but it wasn’t a girl,” Walker’s father, Brian Montgomery, told The Stand. It was actually a group of overseas predators in Nigeria who recorded the encounter with the intent to extort him for money.

As soon as the call ended, the individuals demanded $1,000 from Walker. Although he repeatedly refused, they sent him screenshots of the encounter and said that if he did not pay, they would send the images to Walker’s close friends and family – including his mom, Courtney.

“Walker responded after that exchange with ‘I’m just going to kill myself,’” said Brian. “But they didn’t care. They said, ‘Go ahead, because you’re already dead anyway.’”

By morning, Walker had heeded the scammers’ words and ended his life.

The aftermath

On December 1, 2022, the entire Montgomery family awoke in shock. Before that night, Walker had shown no signs of bullying, mental illness, or depression. As far as his parents were concerned, Walker was a happy teenager. It wasn’t until six to eight weeks later that the police department in Starkville, Mississippi – alongside the FBI – discovered Walker’s Instagram chat from November.

“[The FBI] looked at every conversation, every photo,” said Brian. “[They saw] no issue with Walker. He spent a lot of time watching football, hunting, and talking to his friends. … Walker was a normal teenager until that night.”

In a way, those words reassured Brian and Courtney that their son was exactly who they had always believed him to be. However, they were severely troubled by how one social media conversation had fatally impacted their son’s life.

“At that point, we understood,” said Brian. “The threat that came into our house that night was much greater than we ever could have anticipated.”

Awareness and grace 

Following Walker’s death, Brian made it his mission to raise awareness about the horrible realities of sextortion. In doing so, he quickly realized how prevalent this crime is among teenagers. He also found out how others in their community had received the same scam as Walker. Brian has spoken at churches, schools, and youth events, hoping to make teenagers aware of such dangerous online situations – before it is too late.

“[If] Walker would have had the idea of Hey, I’m not alone; I’m not the only person this has ever happened to, I feel like he would have made a different decision,” explained Brian. “I’ve talked to too many parents … [whose] kids have come through this and said, ‘Had I not known about what happened to Walker, I would have made a different decision.’”

Though these conversations are hard to have, Brian has been faithful, and he has seen the Lord use their tragedy for good. Many individuals have come to know Christ through the Montgomerys’ testimony of Walker’s life.

Advocating for change 

Besides equipping parents and teens with knowledge of online dangers, Brian also advocates for legislation that will hold social media outlets accountable for their crimes against children. Currently, he is supporting the Kids Online Safety Act.

“The bill simply says that we have an industry, tech companies, that today have no responsibilities in terms of liability for harms,” said Brian. “The longer social media companies keep you engaged, the more money they make. And there is nothing to regulate this.”

According to Brian, these harms include the threat of sextortion, cyberbullying, grooming for child sex trafficking, and more. At press time, the bipartisan bill had been introduced to the U.S. Senate and was awaiting further action.  

SIDEBAR:

Love them, protect them

“As parents, we’re called to protect our kids and guide them to make good decisions until they’re able to make them on their own,” said Brian Montgomery.

Following the loss of his son, Brian now motivates parents to adopt an “oversight program” within their homes to help protect their children from rising online dangers. He believes children will be more mindful on the internet if they know their parents are watching. He recommends:

▶ Having open communication

▶ Monitoring kids’ phone usage

▶ Knowing their phone and social media passwords

▶ Charging kids’ phones in parents’ bedrooms at night

Alternatively, Melanie Hempe, founder of ScreenStrong, an organnization devoted to helping parents combat screen addiction, recommends that parents consider getting rid of their child’s smartphone and social media accounts altogether. Instead, she believes that parents should opt to purchase a basic phone without internet access for their children until they are out of high school.

“If you figure out your kids are allergic to peanut butter, you take the peanut butter away,” explained Hempe. “You don’t try to make it work because it’s never going to work.”

At screenstrong.org, Hempe offers valuable resources to help parents defeat the issue of  “problematic screen use” and focus on building life skills, relationships, and stronger families. To accomplish this, she encourages parents to delay exposing their children to the dangers of social media and smartphones until their 48 months of high school are complete.

“Teenagers are teenagers, and we’ve got to love them right where they are,” stated Hempe. “[They need] their parents to stand up for them because nobody else does, and they can’t stand up for themselves.”

Editor’s note: ScreenStrong is not a faith-based organization. However, The Stand believes its advice regarding phone safety is worth considering.