My son was the victim of a shockingly cruel sex scam – his final words still haunt me

Daily Mail​

a day ago

A grieving mom has revealed how her son's shocking last last words have continued to haunt her after his death.
Jordan DeMay, from Michigan, was just 17 when two brothers sexually extorted him for $1000 before continuously goading him to kill himself.
In March 2022, Samuel and Samson Ogoshi, now in their early 20s, posed as a female interest on Instagram, where they solicited nude images of Jordan. After receiving the pictures, the brothers threatened to leak them if Jordan refused to cough up money.
When the student and athlete responded 'I'm kms rn [I'm kill myself right now] Bc of you [Because of you]', the brothers told him 'good', adding, 'I will make u commit suicide. I promise you I swear'.
His mother Jennifer Buta has opened up to The Sun about how the heart wrenching last words from her beloved son have continued to linger.
Jennifer, who still lives in Michigan, recalled receiving a text message from Jordan in the early hours of the fateful morning.
The sweet message read 'Mother, I love you'.
While at the time she assumed it was nothing more than an endearing phrase from her teenage son, she would later discover a truth that would leave her eternally 'shattered'.
Jennifer told the publication, 'I live with the grief of losing my son every day, and only wish he'd come to me or his dad about what happened. We miss him every day'.
'Jordan's late-night text message had been a final goodbye' she added.
Sexual extortion, or sextortion, involves persuading a person to send explicit photos online and then threatening to make the images public unless the victim pays money or engages in sexual favors.
Jennifer is adamant that young people learn of the dangers of sextortion, and urged parents to talk to their children.
She told The Sun: 'Now I am determined to raise awareness to stop other parents from going through this heartbreak.
'Sextortion needs to be talked about in schools... we need to be educating our kids about it and parents should be having those difficult conversations'.
Sexual extortion carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a maximum penalty of 30 years.
Last year Samuel and Samson Ogoshi were sentenced to 17½ years in federal prison after pleading guilty to sexually extorting not only Jordan, but other teenage boys and young men across the U.S.
The siblings were accused of inducing Jordan to send a naked picture of himself and then extorting him.
Under the name Dani Roberts, posing as a woman, the brothers wrote to Jordan stating: 'I have screenshot all ur followers and tags can send this nudes to everyone and also send your nudes to your family and friends until it goes viral.
'All you've to do is to cooperate with me and I won't expose you.
'Are you gonna cooperate with me?' the message read. 'Just pay me rn [right now] and I won't expose you'.
When Jordan asked 'how much?' he was told he needed to fork over $1,000.
After Jordan paid $300, Samuel Ogoshi continued to make further threats.
'Goodbye', Ogoshi wrote. 'Enjoy your miserable life.'
It led Jordan to write a devastating message in response.
'I'm kms rn [I'm kill myself right now] Bc of you [Because of you].'
'Good,' Ogoshi wrote back.
'Do that fast. Or I'll make you do it. I swear to God.'
'I will make you regret you life,' the scammer went on. 'I will make u commit suicide. I promise you I swear'.
Jordan took his life shortly afterwards.
Jordan's mother, Jennifer, gave emotional testimony as she told the court during Samuel Ogoshi's sentencing that her son's death had left her 'shattered to the core, infuriated and trapped in grief'.
She said the last text her son sent her was 'Mother I love you' - a text she awoke to and thought was endearing until she learned that Jordan had killed himself in his bedroom.
'What I thought was an endearing message from Jordan was his goodbye and his reassurance of his love for me,' she said.
'I would never have imagined that while I was asleep both of the defendants hid behind their screens and tortured Jordan for hours while he was alone'.
Jordan DeMay's stepmother, Jessica DeMay, said during her tearful testimony that she and Jordan's other relatives will 'never again experience pure joy' because every happy moment would be tainted by 'a small cloud of sadness around it' that comes from Jordan's death.
The teen's father, John DeMay, told the court he is haunted by the image of 'my son laying on his bed dead with a gunshot wound to his head'.
'Jordan was an amazing young man. He was resilient, he was smart, he was educated, he was an athlete. He was my only son. And you got to talk to him for the last time in his life. That's horrifying to me' he said.
A federal judge sentenced Samuel and Samson Ogoshi after hearing how Jordan killed himself at his family's home in Marquette, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
The Ogoshis, both from Lagos, Nigeria, had previously been extradited from Nigeria to stand trial. The brothers each pleaded guilty to conspiring to sexually exploit teenage boys.
They were accused of running an international sextortion ring in which they posed as a woman, a scheme which resulted in Jordan's March 2022 suicide.
The depraved brothers researched their victims to find out where they lived, went to school and worked, as well as the identities of their family and friends.
Once they had the information, the brothers approached their targets, managing to solicit the minor victims to produce and send sexually explicit images of themselves.
'Once they received the images, they created a collage of pictures that included the sexually explicit image with other images of the victim and their school, family, and friends' prosecutors explained.
'The Ogoshi brothers threatened to disclose the collages to the family, friends, and classmates of the victim unless the victim agreed to pay money using online cash applications'.
Federal prosecutors said their sextortion schemes targeted more than 100 victims, including Jordan.
'The sentencing of Samuel and Samson Ogoshi sends a thundering message' U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said in a statement.
'To criminals who commit these schemes: you are not immune from justice. We will track you down and hold you accountable, even if we have to go half-way around the world to do so'.
U.S. District Judge Robert J. Jonker, who also sentenced the Ogoshis to five years of supervision following their release, said he would decide what restitution the brothers must make once he receives additional information.
Before sentencing the brothers, Jonker said the case called for long sentences.
He said both of the defendants had shown a 'callous disregard for life' while noting that the siblings had continued their sextortion scams even after learning that Jordan had killed himself.
'The continuation of the overall scheme even after there was certain knowledge that one individual, the individual in this case, took his own life points to the need for a high sentence' the judge said during sentencing.
Jordan's family described him as 'the perfect mix of fun-loving and hard-working'.
'Jordan's smile could light up any room. Jordan's charm and beautiful smile were contagious, drawing people to him wherever he went and leaving a lasting impression on everyone he met. He wanted to connect and be everyone's friend and he did just that'.
Samuel Ogoshi's attorney, Sean Tilton, said his client cooperated with authorities and had written a letter of apology.
He said Samuel Ogoshi was remorseful 'and feels a tremendous sense of guilt of the loss of life in this case'.
Samson Ogoshi´s attorney, Julia Kelly, said during his sentencing that her client was 'very remorseful' and that he was 18 when he began taking part in extortion and scam attempts.
She said such scams are common in Lagos, Nigeria, and he saw those as a quick way to make money.
Kelly wrote in a court filing that 'hundreds of people just like him were involved in similar scamming'.
'He was told who could get him a hacked account, how to make a fake profile, how to boost accounts and, because English is not his first language, was given a script of what to say' she wrote.