Child Sextortion and Online Blackmail: A Guide for Parents
Online blackmail involving children can develop quickly and place intense emotional pressure on both the child and their family.
The person responsible may threaten to share an intimate photograph, video, private conversation or fabricated image unless the child pays money, provides further material or complies with another demand.
In a 2025 survey of 2,558 UK parents and carers, the NSPCC found that 9% said their own child had experienced online blackmail. Twenty-one per cent said they knew a child who had experienced it, while two in five rarely or never discussed online blackmail with their children.
These findings do not mean that one in ten UK children has experienced blackmail. They reflect the responses of the parents and carers surveyed. However, they demonstrate why families should understand the risk and know how to respond without blame, panic or punishment.
What is child sextortion?
Sextortion is a form of online blackmail involving sexual or intimate images, videos or information.
The offender threatens to distribute the material unless the child:
- Pays money.
- Provides additional images or videos.
- Continues sexual communication.
- Joins a video call.
- Meets the offender.
- Provides passwords or account access.
- Shares information about another child.
- Complies with another demand.
The material may be genuine, secretly recorded, stolen, manipulated or entirely fabricated.
Police guidance explains that sextortion can affect anyone, although young people aged between 15 and 17 are among the groups frequently identified as being at increased risk.
How does child sextortion begin?
The contact may begin through:
- Social media.
- Gaming platforms.
- Messaging applications.
- Live-streaming services.
- Dating or social-discovery applications.
- A hacked or impersonated account.
The offender may appear to be another young person and use stolen photographs, false personal details and apparently genuine social-media accounts.
They may build trust gradually or move the conversation into sexual territory very quickly.
In some cases, the offender encourages the child to share an intimate image or appear on a video call. Once the material has been obtained or recorded, the offender may reveal screenshots of the child’s relatives, friends, school contacts or social-media followers.
The National Crime Agency has warned that some financially motivated sextortion cases progress from initial contact to blackmail in less than an hour. UK police forces received an average of 117 reports involving under-18s each month during the first five months of 2024, although child sexual abuse and exploitation are widely underreported.
Why might a child hide what has happened?
A child may fear:
- Being blamed for sharing an image.
- Losing access to their phone or social-media accounts.
- Punishment for breaking family rules.
- Embarrassment in front of parents or carers.
- Disclosure to friends, schoolmates or relatives.
- Being judged because of their sexuality or relationships.
- Getting another person into trouble.
- The offender carrying out the threat if they tell anyone.
The offender may reinforce these fears by claiming that the child will be arrested, expelled from school or rejected by their family.
Parents should avoid language that suggests the child caused the situation. Responsibility lies with the person using deception, threats or coercion.
Possible signs that something is wrong
There may be no obvious warning signs. However, parents and carers may notice:
- Sudden anxiety when notifications arrive.
- Repeated requests for money without a clear explanation.
- Unusual interest in gift cards, cryptocurrency or payment applications.
- Withdrawal from friends, family or usual activities.
- Avoidance of school or social events.
- Changes in sleep or eating patterns.
- Deleting accounts or messages unexpectedly.
- Fear that a phone will be checked.
- Distress after using a particular platform.
- An unfamiliar person contacting the child repeatedly.
- Statements suggesting hopelessness, shame or fear of exposure.
These signs do not prove that sextortion is taking place, but they may justify a calm and supportive conversation.
How should a parent respond?
Stay calm and avoid blame
The child may already believe that disclosure will lead to anger or punishment.
Begin by explaining that:
- They are not responsible for the offender’s actions.
- They were right to ask for help.
- They do not have to manage the situation alone.
- The immediate priority is their safety.
- You will decide the next steps together.
Avoid demanding a complete account immediately. The child may need time to explain what happened.
Assess immediate safety
Ask whether the offender:
- Knows the child’s address, school or current location.
- Has met the child in person.
- Is demanding an in-person meeting.
- Has threatened violence.
- Is claiming to be nearby.
- Has contacted siblings, friends or classmates.
- Is asking for further sexual activity.
Where there is an immediate danger to life or a threat of violence, call 999.
Preserve appropriate evidence
Parents do not need to conduct their own investigation before reporting. Police guidance states that a victim can report what happened even when screenshots, images or other material are no longer available.
Where possible, preserve:
- Usernames and profile links.
- Telephone numbers and email addresses.
- Payment demands.
- Bank details or cryptocurrency addresses.
- Dates and times of contact.
- Threatening messages.
- Details of the platform used.
- A short chronology of events.
Do not unnecessarily download, copy or forward sexual images involving someone under 18.
Preserve the surrounding messages and account information, then seek police or safeguarding advice about handling the material.
Do not make further payments or send material
An offender may claim that one more payment or image will end the threat.
There is no reliable way to verify that promise.
Further compliance may result in:
- Larger demands.
- Additional sexual content being requested.
- The offender returning under another identity.
- The child’s information being shared with other offenders.
- Increased emotional and financial pressure.
Keep records of payment requests and contact the relevant bank or payment provider promptly where money has already been sent.
Secure accounts
Help the child:
- Change compromised or reused passwords.
- Enable multi-factor authentication.
- Review active account sessions.
- Remove unfamiliar recovery details.
- Check linked email accounts.
- Review cloud-storage access.
- Restrict public contact lists and personal information.
- Report the offending account to the platform after preserving relevant details.
Deleting every account immediately may destroy useful information or make it harder to understand how the offender obtained access.
Where should parents report child sextortion?
Child sextortion involving sexual images, grooming or coercion may be reported to the police or the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command.
CEOP accepts reports from children, parents, guardians and professionals where there are concerns about online sexual abuse or grooming. It does not handle general reports about bullying, fake accounts or account hacking unless they form part of the sexual-abuse concern.
The account or content should also be reported to the relevant platform.
Parents may also consider:
- The child’s school safeguarding lead.
- A solicitor, where legal or reputational issues arise.
- Childline or another appropriate support service.
- Report Remove, where the child needs support reporting sexual images shared online.
- A mental-health or wellbeing professional, where the child is experiencing significant distress.
Police.uk lists Childline, CEOP Education and Report Remove among the services available to young people and families affected by sextortion.
Supporting the child after the immediate threat
The effects may continue after the account has been reported or the demands stop.
A child may experience:
- Shame.
- Anxiety.
- Loss of confidence.
- Fear of returning to school.
- Difficulty sleeping.
- Concern that the material may appear later.
- Distrust of online relationships.
- Anger towards themselves or others.
Avoid repeatedly questioning the child or requiring them to retell the experience unnecessarily.
Maintain ordinary routines where possible and let the child know they can return to the conversation when ready.
Talking about sextortion before an incident
Parents do not need to wait for a crisis before discussing online blackmail.
Useful messages include:
- Anyone can be deceived online.
- A convincing profile may be false.
- Intimate material can be copied even when an application says it will disappear.
- A threat should be shared with a trusted adult immediately.
- The child will not be punished for asking for help.
- Money or additional images rarely provide a guaranteed resolution.
- The family will focus first on safety and support.
The aim is not to frighten the child or monitor every conversation. It is to make clear that they can seek help without expecting blame.
How specialist support may assist
A structured response may include:
- Reviewing the threat and available communications.
- Organising account and payment information.
- Assessing online aliases and profiles.
- Examining whether several accounts appear connected.
- Supporting a controlled communication strategy.
- Coordinating with solicitors and cyber-security specialists.
- Preparing a chronology for police or safeguarding professionals.
- Monitoring for further contact or publication.
Private investigators cannot compel platforms, banks or telecommunications companies to release confidential subscriber information.
It may not be possible to establish who controls an anonymous account, confirm that every copy of an image has been deleted or guarantee that the offender will not make further contact.
For broader guidance, read What Is Sextortion and What Should You Do?.
Conflict International’s Blackmail and Extortion Resolution Services support families and advisers facing intimate-image threats, online coercion and related financial demands.
Take the next step
The immediate priorities are:
- Reassuring the child and avoiding blame.
- Assessing immediate physical and emotional risk.
- Preserving appropriate account and communication details.
- Avoiding further payments or intimate material.
- Securing relevant accounts.
- Reporting sexual abuse, grooming or urgent threats.
- Providing continuing safeguarding and wellbeing support.
If your child or a young person close to you is facing sextortion or online blackmail, contact Conflict International in confidence to discuss the available evidence, immediate risks and appropriate next steps.