Teen's Nude Selfie Sets Off 5-Year Nightmare

A Michigan teenager learned the difficult way what can happen after hitting the send button on a nude selfie:

Unrelenting text messages and emails, stalking and extortion for five years, not only from the Florida man named Bruce who originally received the then 13-year-old’s photos, but from others she thought he shared them with, federal prosecutors argued in complaint in U.S. District Court, the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News

The now 18-year-old St. Clair County teen, whose name and hometown have not been released, bowed to pressure and sent photos to men who said that if she didn’t comply, they would post the photos they already had on the Internet.

For about 18 months, she complied and “took nude photographs of herself every other day and forwarded them,” according to the complaint.

She attempted suicide twice, according to the complaint, and finally told authorities of the years-long harassment in September after she found 30 images of herself on an Internet porn site. The photos and videos had generated thousands of comments.

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In a March email to a man described in the complaint as “Suspect No. 5,” she offered a glimpse of her tortured existence:

“I don’t understand why you can’t leave me alone,” she wrote in the email that is included in the complaint. “I’m already in therapy, I’ve gone to psych hospital twice now for trying to commit suicide. Are you trying to kill me?”

The man who originally received the teen’s nude photos, Bruce Powell, 26, was arrested by the FBI Tuesday evening at his Tallahassee, FL, home, and charged with cyberstalking and child pornography. He had allegedly contacted her by email as recently as Oct. 11, writing:

“This is literally your last chance to answer me. You have 24 hours. I know where you are, I know where your family is, all will be exposed unless you answer.”

Powell has been detained and is awaiting extradition to Michigan. He reportedly admitted his part in the years-long extortion scheme. Although a half-dozen suspects were originally thought to be involved in sending more than 4,000 messages, Powell admitted in his detention hearing in Florida they were all the same person: him.

Wake-Up Call for Parents

U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said the case underscores the importance of parents having frank conversations with their children about the “very real danger of online predators.”

“The Internet is a window to the world, and predators are lurking outside, looking for ways to get in. When you send private information and photos to strangers, they obtain power over you,” McQuade told the Free Press.

“Parents should also tell their kids that no amount of shame should prevent them from asking for help when they find themselves in bad situations,” she said. “Victims sometimes suffer in silence and make the situation worse by complying with the demands of predators because they are too ashamed to admit their own roles.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics offers some tips to parents about talking to children about the dangers lurking online, but an attorney who is representing one of the 31 Rochester, MI, teens who potentially face felony charges for sexting nude images of themselves and their friends says action is as important as talking.

‘The Snappening’

Attorney Shannon Smith told WJBK-TV that parents should disable the Snapchat application on their kids’ phones as a precautionary measure.

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• How are you talking to your kids about the dangers of online predators? Do you have any tips that would be helpful to others?

“Snapchat has caused issues in many of my cases,” Smith said. “The Snapchat app allows children to take photos without leaving a trace of the photo on your phone. It leads children to believe that there will be no consequences.”

About half of all Snapchat users are between the ages of 13-17, according to a story on The Telegraph, and the application was the culprit in the leaking of about 90,000 images reportedly leaked online in what has been dubbed “The Snappening.”

A handful of celebrities – including ]Jennifer Lawrence, Rihanna, Kim Kardashian, Jessica Brown-Findlay and Nick Hogan –have allegedly had private images shared online – but increasingly children are being targeted, the newspaper said.

A third-party client, Snapsaved.com, has admitted it was the source of the leaked photos, The Guardian reports.