Sextortion Stole My Son: The Caleb Moore Story
On June 10, Caleb Moore, a 14-year-old from El Dorado, Kansas, took his own life after falling victim to social media sextortion. Caleb was targeted by an online predator pretending to be a teenage girl.
This morning, I released a podcast interview with Morgan Moore, Caleb’s mother. We discussed who Caleb was, what sextortion is, what parents need to know, and much more.
Caleb’s Story
Though he was already 6’4” going into 8th grade, Caleb’s mother, Morgan Moore, described him as a gentle soul who was goofy and mild-mannered. He played football, basketball, ran track, and was excited about wrestling his school year.
On June 10, Caleb was contacted by what he believed to be a teenage girl on TikTok. The conversation then moved to Snapchat. This “teenage girl” sent inappropriate pictures of herself and asked Caleb to do the same. As soon as he did, he found out it was not a teenage girl, but an online predator. This predator immediately blackmailed Caleb, demanding money or they would expose Caleb’s photos. After a 35-minute back-and-forth, Caleb took his own life.
What Morgan Wants Other Parents To Know
“People won’t let their kids traipse around town anymore because there are predators out there, and we’re all very aware of that. We give them phones, we track them because that has been so prevalent. And this is, in my opinion, the exact same thing, except it can happen from anywhere. And it is faceless. There’s not the same repercussions as a physical sexual crime against a minor. That’s what this is.”
Morgan’s Message to Teens
“If you made a mistake, that’s okay. There are very few things that are truly irredeemable. It’s okay. What’s not okay is leaving your family. Your parents are going to be so thankful that you told them.”
Her Message to Schools
“The most important thing we can do is talk about it and spread awareness. I absolutely think it should be part of school safety. Internet safety needs to be at the top of that list.”
Her Message to Tech Companies
“You should probably figure it out. Let’s hold off on making new filters every single day and put some of those resources into finding a solution to sextortion. On a human level, take away the CEO title. As a parent, or just a member of a community, why are you okay with this?”
We Must Do More
The FBI reports there are more than 500,000 predators active online every day and 50 percent of the victims are between the ages of 12 and 15.
Snapchat’s own internal documents have shown they received more than 10,000 reports of sextortion every month.
We must tackle the dangers facing our children online from every angle. Parents, schools, lawmakers, law enforcement, and tech companies must all step up.
