POTSDAM â Nearly every school in St. Lawrence County is scheduled to have state police give presentations to students about online safety.
The families of Riley K. Basford, Shylynn M. Dixon and Evan T. McDaniel have all played a significant role in increasing the number of safety presentations given across the county by state police. Each family had acutely similar stories about how their teenage loved one died of suicide after suffering blackmail and sextortion online.
Trooper Jennifer V. Fleishman said presenters include investigators from their computer crime unit and herself. Theyâve done them for years, and she said thereâs âfor sureâ been a spike in scheduling ever since the Basford family first told Rileyâs story.
Lisbon 18-year-old's suicide has similarities to Potsdam teen's death; state police investigating | Crime & Law
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'One suicide is too many': Scope of cyber sextortion's teen victims unknown | Crime & Law
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'One suicide is too many': Scope of cyber sextortion's teen victims unknown | St. Lawrence County
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EDITORâS NOTE: This story contains descriptions of self-harm and suicide.
LISBON â Shylynn M. Dixon left a note before she died, telling her family she loved them and not to fall apart, adding that she had sent personal photographs to someone who then blackmailed her for a time period the family says was over a year.
Two families in St. Lawrence County each lost a teenage child to suicide in March, and both cases are eerily similar. Both teenagers, who didnât know each other but lived just 20 miles apart, faced threats that their personal photographs would be shared publicly if they didnât comply with demands. They both felt they couldnât take it anymore; and both of their families are now fighting for change.