Nigerian extradited to US to face charges over nude photo that led to teen's death
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A Nigerian man has been extradited to the U.S. and charged with causing the death of a South Carolina teen who took his own life after the suspect posed as a woman and tried to extort the teen after he sent nude photos, prosecutors say.
The teenager was the son of South Carolina Rep. Brandon Guffey, who pushed through a state law making sextortion a felony and has been a vocal critic of how social media companies fail to protect minors from sexual exploitation and attacks online.
In a courtroom in Columbia on Monday, Guffey got to face 24-year-old Hassanbunhussein Abolore Lawal, who was brought to the U.S. from Nigeria on Saturday.
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Guffey held a picture of his son and wore a button for the foundation he created to stop both online sexual exploitation and help teens who are victimized to understand it's a mistake and not something to be condemned over.
“I can’t save Gavin. But I can hope to save other kids and not let that light be extinguished,” Guffey said at a news conference after Lawal's initial court appearance.
Lawal is charged with child exploitation resulting in death. He faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted. Nigeria would only extradite Lawal if the U.S. didn't seek the death penalty.
He also is charged with the production and distribution of child sexual abuse material, coercion and enticement of a minor, cyberstalking resulting in death, and interstate threats with intent to extort.
Lawal was assigned a public defender who did not respond to an email Monday seeking comment.
Lawal's appearance in a U.S. courtroom was the culmination of more than two years of investigation and negotiations after Guffey found his son dead after breaking down the door of a bathroom less than two hours after a scammer first reached out to him on Instagram, according to the FBI.
The FBI said in court papers that the scammer, posing as a female college volleyball player, connected with the teen on Instagram and encouraged him to send risqué photos. He then demanded money and said the $25 the teen sent online wasn't enough to stop him from posting the nude pictures online and they needed $100, the court documents added.
The teen told the scammer he could get $25 more in a few days, according to the court documents. Prosecutors said that as the threats to ruin his life continued, the teen said he'd rather die than deal with the extortion and that he had a gun in his lap. The threats didn't stop, an FBI agent said in a sworn statement.
Even after the teen's death, Lawal continued to message the family, authorities said. Guffey was running his successful campaign for a South Carolina House seat at the time and Lawal threatened to release his son's photos, the FBI said, adding a sting ultimately led to identifying Lawa in the case. The agency said an agent questioned him in Nigeria and an arrest warrant was issued in August 2023.
Guffey's chief goal in his first year in the House was passing “Gavin's Law" making it a felony to extort people with nude photographs with greater penalties if the victim is a minor. The bill passed three months into his first year in office.
State and federal officials said this isn't the first time Nigeria has sent a sextortion suspect to the U.S. Though it is rare, they said the extradition sends a message internationally that the crime is taken seriously.
"You can no longer hide in a basement in a faraway country without fear of being arrested, extradited and brought here to face the families of those you have torn apart," State Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel said.
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