An alleged sextortion attempt led to the tragic death of a 15-year-old boy in West Virginia.
Bryce Tate, a sophomore at Nitro High School, died by suicide hours after he was targeted by scammers on November 6, according to the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office.
Bryce’s father, Adam Tate, told the New York Post the teen believed the initial communication was coming from “a local 17-year-old girl.” The scammer “built [Bryce’s] trust to where he believed that this was truly somebody in this area,” Adam claimed, adding the perpetrator knew where Bryce worked out as well as who his friends were and what school he attended.
As part of the deadly scam, Bryce was sent illicit photos of a young girl and asked to send some in return.
The scammers allegedly demanded $500 from the teen or promised to release the photos, including to his family and friends. Bryce only had $30, the Post reported.
Twenty minutes before he died, Bryce received approximately 120 messages from the scammers.
The sheriff’s office is investigating the sextortion attempt with the intention of filing criminal charges. Sextortion is defined as an online exploitation where criminals pretend to be teens and manipulate their victims into sending compromising or intimate images via social media. The sextorter then uses those photos to make demands of the victim that, if not met, will lead to their public release.
Calls to 911 the evening of November 6 led deputies to Bryce’s body inside his family’s home in Cross Lanes. Investigators subsequently sent Bryce’s cellphone to the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office Digital Forensic Lab for analysis and learned the teenager had been targeted in an online sextortion scheme.
Sextortion scams often entail ransom demands for cash, and adults are victims of sextortion ploys almost as often as teenagers, according to the FBI’s data.
Given the digital nature of the crime, the FBI in Pittsburgh has also gotten involved in the case.
“This isn’t just manipulation — it’s a calculated assault on the innocent, preying on trust and fear to drive permanent, devastating decisions before loved ones can intervene,” Adam told WSAZ. “I consider it to be the murder of my innocent son. These cowards, operating from the shadows, exploit vulnerability with ruthless efficiency.”
In 2023, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children alone received 26,718 reports of financial sextortion, which was up from 10,731 reports in 2022.
Adam said he has met with West Virginia lawmakers to propose “Bryce’s Law,” an anti-cyberbullying bill that would elevate the punishments for such crimes when they end in death.
If you know of a young person who is being exploited or are the victim of a crime, you are urged to report it to your local FBI field office by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI. Tips can also be left at tips.fbi.gov.
If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or considering suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
