No Child Is Immune From Sextortion—Even Yours

As many as 1 in 20 kids are sextorted online. And the results can be deadly.

Walker Montgomery, photo courtesy of the Montgomery Family

Fair warning: the story I want to share today is hard to read. I have told this story to countless families, and I still choke up when I talk about it. It’s the story of Walker Montgomery, a 16-year-old boy, a proud new driver who was involved with his school and his family, who took his own life within hours—yes, hours—of a random sextortion encounter on Instagram.

I share Walker’s story because not only does this sweet boy’s memory deserve to be honored, but also because when parents hear it, the defense of “not my kid” completely vanishes. Walker was the classic American boy with the kind of family life that should have shielded him from such a tragedy. And yet, it didn’t.

But before we dive into Walker’s story, told through his father Brian (and featured on ScreenStrong Families Podcast #166), let’s talk a little more about sextortion.

What is sextortion?

Sextortion stands for sexual extortion. In sextortion, a person obtains explicit images of another and uses these images to extort that person for money. Essentially, the perpetrator threatens to release nude photos or videos to friends and family members unless the victim pays him.

Most of the time, when people think about sextortion, they think about a person known to the victim, like a classmate or an ex-boyfriend, making the threats. But the truth is, a growing number of sextortion incidents involve a complete stranger, who connects with children on social media in seemingly innocuous ways, as they did with Walker.

Who was Walker Montgomery?

Walker Montgomery with his dad, photo courtesy Walker Montgomery’s Family

Walker was a high school sophomore who loved football and the outdoors and came from a close-knit family of six. His father, Brian, says:

“My wife and I met in high school, and we both did our best to raise a family who honored God and honored their family with how they lived. We were together all the time. On weekends, we were together on our land, working on timber and building stuff.

Walker had a tremendous work ethic. Adults loved Walker. The coaches and teachers, every year, we would have compliments on who he was and what kind of a friend he was. He had no social issues and had a great group of friends.”

The night everything changed

By all accounts, Walker was a hard-working kid, loved by his peers and his community, with no history of depression or anxiety. And yet, he took his own life.

How did that happen? According to Brian, it began like any other night. Walker came home from football practice and had dinner with his family—both of which are incredibly protective factors for teens. Then he went to his room—with his phone.

Here’s what Brian says happened next:

“So around midnight, Walker received a text message through Instagram… from a girl that he didn't know, but she was very attractive and appeared to be school-age, you know, 15 or 16 years old.

He didn't know her at all. She messaged him, and basically, the message said, ‘What's up?’ and he answered the message.

But in that conversation, the stranger starts to say, ‘Well, I'm friends with somebody else that knows you,’ so they're building credibility to try to make themselves appear familiar and to make themselves appear like they're real.

She convinces Walker to enter into this sexual encounter over this video portal… and they record Walker in this sexual encounter. Walker didn't know it, but they used a secondary device to video the screen.

And then directly they send him a message back and say, ‘Hey, this is not what you thought it was. You owe us a thousand dollars, or we're going to send this video to everybody in your Instagram list.’

This goes on for 2 hours, and they're telling him, ‘Everybody's gonna hate you whenever they see this. We're going to send this to the whole world, and everybody's gonna see you for who you are.’ It was as bad as you can imagine.

They’re going down the list. He’s begging them to stop… and they get to his mom. And I think that's what broke him. He told him that he was going to kill himself and their response was, ‘Go ahead because you're already dead anyway.’”

Following that exchange, Walker retrieved a gun from the family safe and shot himself in his room. His family found him the next morning.

The whole event—from the initial message to the ultimate suicide—took a matter of hours. As Brian says:

“If we were able to see Walker the next day, we would have had some opportunity to try to help him. But we didn't have that opportunity.”

What Walker’s dad wants every family to know

The loss Brian and his family have experienced is unimaginable. Tragedy does not even begin to describe it—a healthy, well-adjusted, well-like kid gone in a matter of a few hours, all because of a social media encounter.

Since Walker’s death, though, Brian has made it his mission to prevent other families from experiencing the same horror. Here is what he wants every parent to know:

1. The best way to prevent sextortion via social media is to not allow social media in the first place.

As Brian says so succinctly:

“If Walker had not had social media, if he had not had access to his phone, we wouldn't be in the situation.”

2. Children and teens should never have a device in a private space like a bedroom

Brian urges parents:

“Create a process of accountability with your kids to where that phone comes with me [the parent] at night.

It prevents that phone from going into a private place. No phones in a private place… Communicate to that kid, ‘Hey, I want to be looking at your history. I want to be looking through the conversations you have. Don't think this phone is a private place for you. It's not. It's my phone. I pay the bill. I am your parent, and I'm gonna do my job.’ Creating that infrastructure of accountability and it's much easier when they're younger, so start there and continue that.’

3. The dangers of the virtual world are real, and no child is immune

Brian says:

“I didn't completely understand the dangers [of social media]. I would have said, ‘Walker’s a great kid. He is the most respectful. He's got the best work ethic. He's fine. He's okay, it's not a big deal.’ And now, I'm telling parents, we've paid for that ignorance.”

Overcome ignorance with education

As someone who has been in this space for over a decade, I can tell you it’s not enough for parents to overcome their ignorance surrounding social media and other toxic tech; kids need to be educated, too.

It’s not enough to tell our children not to talk to strangers online or to set screen limits. We have to let our kids know why we are making these rules and why compliance is not an option. That’s exactly what our Kids’ Brains & Screens Home Edition is designed to do.

KBS Home Edition breaks down the science behind smartphones, social media, and video games and explains it in a way kids ages 10-18 can understand and connect with. Armed with this knowledge, they can make healthier choices that can not only improve their immediate physical and mental health but, potentially, also even save their lives.

Walker and Brian’s fate does not have to be yours. Let his story be a wake-up call, the one that helps you take the first step towards a future that’s free from the grip of social media and all its dangers. You—and your children—deserve it.

ScreenStrong Resources

Podcast—“Walker’s Story: Social Media and Teen Sextortion”

Podcast—“Introducing the Kids’ Brains & Screens Home Edition”

Melanie Hempe, BSN, is the founder of ScreenStrong, a nonprofit organization, and the author of the Kids’ Brains and Screens Series for students and parents. She is dedicated to preventing and reversing childhood screen addictions by providing scientific evidence and community for families around the globe. Her educational material is filled with everything she wished she had known before her oldest child suffered from a screen addiction. ScreenStrong has created what every family needs—education and the community—to skip toxic screens through adolescence so teens can reach their full potential.

Visit here for family resource materials and here for our Phone-Free Schools Guide, and visit ScreenStrong.org to learn more and join the community that is saving childhood.