‘Psychological warfare’: Kansas lawmakers hear testimony from parents who lost sons to sextortion
Grace Hills
Mon, February 9, 2026 at 5:30 PM UTC
4 min read
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Megan Moore, mother of 14-year-old Caleb Moore from El Dorado, who died by suicide after sexual extortion, testified Feb. 5, 2026, before the House Judiciary Committee in favor of a bill that would increase penalties for the crime and provide educational materials. (Photo by Grace Hills for Kansas Reflector)
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TOPEKA — Three parents testified Thursday before the House Judiciary Committee about losing their teenage sons to suicide after the boys were targeted by sexual extortion schemes online.
Caleb Moore, Gavin Guffey, and Evan Boettler were each approached by what seemed to be teenage girls online and pressured into sending sexually explicit pictures. The people behind the accounts — later revealed to be scammers — threatened to expose the images unless the boys paid them. All three died by suicide.
The parents testified in support of House Bill 2537, which would increase the penalties for sexual extortion when an adult targets a child, and would require the state to provide educational materials warning Kansans about the crime.
For Caleb, a 14-year-old from El Dorado, the scammers demanded a $50 Apple gift card. Morgan Moore, Caleb’s mom, said Caleb responded to the Nigerian scammers by saying he had $46 in cash.
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“When the threats did not stop, and they would not allow more time for my son to find an Apple Store, he sent them a picture of the weapon and told them what his intentions were if they did not stop,” Moore said.
“They encouraged him to do so over a $50 Apple gift card,” she added. “Nobody can convince me that anyone in any part of the world wants a $50 gift card that bad. I do believe that it is on the level of terrorism, social engineering, psychological warfare, and is targeted toward kids who are going to grow up and be the pillars that we want in our communities.”
Caleb died in June. Moore held back tears as she described her son’s death.
There were 35 minutes between the scammer’s first threat and Caleb’s death. Moore questions if Caleb would still be alive had he known about the crime.
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“This is what sex extortion does,” Moore said. “It gains power through silence, speed, and isolation. It convinces a child that there is no survivable outcome and no redeemable way out of the situation.”
Moore said teenage boys are reluctant to talk about their problems.
“I think they’re aware that these boys don’t want to embarrass their parents, they don’t want to disappoint their friends, their schools,” Moore said. “They take advantage of that.”
The bill would direct the Attorney General’s Office to provide educational materials about the crime and work with the State Board of Education and law enforcement to distribute them.
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Brandon Guffey, a legislator from Rock Hill, South Carolina, started a nonprofit dedicated to fighting sex extortion after his son, Gavin, died by suicide in 2022. Since Gavin’s death, the number of under-18 victims has increased rapidly — especially with the rise of artificial intelligence. He said with the use of AI, scammers now can use a photo of a child’s face to create realistic sexually explicit images.
“I firmly believe that if my son knew this was happening to many teens, and that he wasn’t alone, and he was a victim of organized criminal networks, he would be with us today,” Guffey said to the committee. “I have fielded literally hundreds of calls with suicidal teens in my advocacy that were brave enough to seek help. I know sharing Gavin’s story has saved lives. I know now that in my political infancy, my own ignorance to think of fellow lawmakers as an enemy could have cost additional teenage lives.”
Brad Boettler, from Aurora, Missouri, said his son Evan died by suicide after sexual extortion in 2024.
“We were an involved, open family. As educators, we talked with Evan about the dangers of social media, the dangers we knew,” Boettler said. “What we did not know was sextortion. After losing Evan, we learned that sextortion is one of the fastest-growing crimes against children, especially teenage boys. Families across this country are losing sons and daughters the same way we lost Evan.”
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Lawmakers also heard testimony for House Bill 2594, which aims to fix a loophole in the breach of privacy statute.
The bill was requested by Smith County Attorney Tabitha Owen, who said the current law defines blackmail as threatening to release any media obtained by a breach of privacy. But the breach of privacy statute has an age requirement of 18 and older.
“This, likely unintentionally, creates a gap whereby a person can threaten to disseminate sexually explicit media of a person under 18 without committing an act of blackmail under the law in Kansas,” Owen said.
She said the bill would also cover AI and other digitally created images as blackmail, which both groups of testifiers said is a growing concern.
There were no opponents to either bill.