The teenaged boy was embarrassed when he entered a New York school resource officer’s office with his assistant principal. He had sent explicit photos of himself to a social media user who he thought was a teenaged girl. The “girl” threatened to make the photos public if he didn’t send money. He’d already sent $100, and now the blackmailer wanted more.
Unfortunately, the boy wasn’t alone. That same day in May of 2022, three other male students visited school resource officer Mark Flint of the Camillus Police Department. One approached Flint in the lunchroom. He had already paid $1,000 to the blackmailer. Two others visited his office separately.
Flint considered the boys’ willingness to come to him in such an embarrassing situation to be a sign of his success in developing positive relationships with students. He spends a lot of time greeting students on arrival and interacting with them at lunch time.
In each case, Flint did his best to comfort the victims.
“I listened without judgement and let them know they aren’t the only ones who’ve had this happen,” Flint told NASRO. “I told them these are the times we live in, that almost everyone does unwise stuff online and that they should let me help.”
After the conversations, Flint made all the required notifications of the abuse. In addition, he informed the school guidance office, the school administration and his command staff at the police department. The department’s abused persons unit took over the investigation.
As of late 2022, Flint said the investigation was still underway and that police had not arrested a suspect. But he also said such cases often go unsolved.
“That’s why the best tactic is to educate kids and parents about online danger,” Flint explained.
The SRO said the victims are doing OK now. “I saw one at a football game this fall, and he was all smiles,” Flint reported.
But that might not have been the case if the victims didn’t have an SRO to go to. Two teens in the same region died by suicide the previous year after being blackmailed online.
“Without a trusted SRO to talk to, kids sometimes can’t see any other way out,” Flint explained. “That’s why I’m grateful to be here.”
Do you have a similar SRO success story? If so, contact NASRO PIO Jay Farlow, [email protected].
 To help educate youth about sextortion, NASRO's partner, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, has created an informational poster in both English and Spanish. They are free downloads from this web page (click and scroll to the "What to Do" section of the page). |