During the month of October, Murray State students were the victims of at least four sexual extortions.
The incidents are tracked in the Murray State Fire and Crime Log as per the Clery Act.
The following cases follow a pattern, and The Murray State News does not express interest in the exposure of the victims involved.
Also, the names of the victims and those related included in the reports requested from Murray State through the Freedom of Information Act, are redacted. For clarity, victims will be referred to as they or them.
The first instance occurred on Oct. 4 when a student reported to Murray State Police that they were receiving threatening messages from a dating site.
Officer Atlas Tylantiss spoke with the victim about the complaint. “(They) stated that he sent a nude picture of himself to an unknown individual on a dating app. Shortly after, he began receiving messages from an unknown phone number demanding that he send Bitcoin currency,” the police report said “The sender advised that if payment were not made, the previously shared nude photo would be disseminated.”
Tylantiss asked the student multiple times if they had any idea who was responsible. The student said they didn’t, and couldn’t figure out why, the report said.
Tylantiss advised the student to block all unfamiliar phone numbers and to avoid contact with unknown online sources and sharing explicit material.
That same day, another student experienced a similar situation, reporting it a week later on Oct. 11 when the extortion began, according to the Crime Log. Reports say the perpetrator demanded $1,500 in gift cards.
“The caller advised that (they have) been texting someone on Snapchat and now (that someone) is demanding money from (them) or (the perpetrator) will release pics of him,” the police report read.
According to the report, Tylantiss spoke with the student and found they were initially communicating with “an unknown female through Instagram before continuing via phone.”
The female threatened to post nude pictures of the student online if he did not comply.
Tylantiss advised the student to cease all communication, to block everything related to the individual and not send money or gift cards.
Another student reported the same story on Oct. 13, and brought them to the Murray State Police Station.
The victim reported a person was threatening to release illicit images if money wasn’t given, and was attempting to call the victim over and over.
In the victim’s written report turned over to the Murray State Police Department, they provided the gmail of a blackmailer, who they gave pictures to, and in turn demanded $100 to not post the pictures online.
The person also wanted the victim’s phone number to reach their friends and family online, to attempt claims the victim “threatened to rape them.”
The last instance of sexual extortion was Oct. 24, where a student did pay the threats for money, resulting in $550 stolen. The conversation began with a student being contacted by someone on Instagram, and claimed the two knew each other through school.
The messaging led to exchanging nude photos; the student sent nudes of themself and received those of a female. Following this, the conversation moved platforms over to WhatsApp where an unknown person began calling and messaging the student, threatening to send those photos to everyone in their contacts if they did not.
The victim and the perpetrator video chatted, the latter was reportedly Jamaican, and the student gave into the threats, initially sending a $100 prepaid Visa card before $200 in bitcoin transfer, then another $200 and $50 on Oct. 25.
According to the report, the victim informed the perpetrator that they were out of money until they were paid again in two weeks, and asked if “they (and the perpetrator) were good.” The perpetrator said they were.
The victim then went to the police for what to do. They were informed to stop sending money, block the perpetrator and to delete their accounts and start new ones.
