OHIO (WLIO) - Ohio will be making sextortion a felony offense, and state officials want to use this new law as an opening for parents to talk to their kids about online predators.
Braden's law also mandates that companies give parents of deceased minors access to their digital info within 30 days of their death.
It's called "Braden's Law," and it's named after 15-year-old Braden Markus from central Ohio.
In 2023, Braden Markus was talking online with someone he thought was a teenage girl; that person convinced Braden to send a sexually explicit picture to them and then demanded $1,800 not to publish the photo. Braden ended up taking his own life. His family has been working with lawmakers to get a law passed to make sextortion a felony.
Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted says parents need to urge their kids to come to talk to them if they are being extorted online.
It's called "Braden's Law," and it's named after 15-year-old Braden Markus from central Ohio.
"This is important for all parents to talk to your kids, to say, look, if you make a mistake, if you do something on the phone where somebody is trying to extort you, come talk to mom and dad. You've got to open up that door, so if a kid makes a mistake that they don't feel isolated and alone, because a lot of times that is leading to mental health problems or suicide. And everybody makes mistakes in life; they do dumb things, but we can't have it end up in suicide. We need to make sure that we're helping to protect our children from the predators that are out there, and there are many predators out there trying to reach children online," said Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted, (R) Ohio.
Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted says parents need to urge their kids to come to talk to them if they are being extorted online.
Braden's law also mandates that companies give parents of deceased minors access to their digital info within 30 days of their death. It took Braden's parents 10 months to get access to his phone and important information about his suicide and the extortion scam against him. The bill is awaiting Governor DeWine's signature.
