The Justice Department announced Monday that a Nigerian man who was charged with the “sextortion” of a South Carolina girl who committed suicide had been extradited to the US to face charges.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina, 17-year-old Gavin Guffey committed suicide in 2022 after he was extorted by Hassanbunhussein Abolore Lawal using “compromising photos,” according to the prosecution.
According to a 2023 complaint filed in South Carolina, Lawal forced Guffey to email him sexually explicit material in 2022 by pretending to be a young woman. According to the report, Lawal then threatened to reveal the information if Guffey didn’t give him money.
According to court documents, Lawal is accused of harassing Guffey and some of his family members by threatening to release the photos and damage their name unless they paid him money.
State Representative Brandon Guffey was Guffey’s father. “Gavin’s Law,” which made sexual extortion a felony offense in the state and an aggravated felony “if the victim is a minor, vulnerable adult, or if the victim suffers bodily injury or death directly related to the crime,” was sponsored by Brandon Guffey after his son passed away, according to Gov. Henry McMaster’s office. In August 2023, McMaster signed the bill into law.
In addition to expressing gratitude to the authorities that collaborated to apprehend Lawal, Brandon Guffey expressed his hope that the incident will serve as a reminder “that if you attack one of the children in America, we will track you down.” It hasn’t, however, made his son’s passing any less painful.
In an interview with NBC News, he stated, “As a parent who loses a child, you’re expecting some magic pill to take the pain away — but even this does not.” “It does help a little bit that we have somebody in custody that cannot attack any more children, but I wouldn t say that it just eases everything.”
According to the congressman, he sued Meta last year after his son was defrauded on Instagram. At this point, he hopes that Lawal will receive a life sentence and that Meta will also be held responsible for his son’s death.
“I find it really disturbing that these are the world s richest companies, and yet they can t be held responsible,” Rep. Guffey stated.
An NBC News request for comment was not immediately answered by Meta.
According to the U.S. attorney’s office, Lawal was indicted by a grand jury in October 2023. According to the indictment, he was accused of interstate threat with purpose to extort, child exploitation resulting in death, distribution of child pornography, coercion and enticing of a minor, and cyberstalking resulting in death.
With assistance from Nigerian law enforcement, FBI Columbia field office agents arrested Lawal in Lagos, Nigeria, on Friday and carried out the extradition. On Monday, he was arraigned in Columbia federal court.
Adair Ford Boroughs, the U.S. attorney for South Carolina, declared, “We will not allow predators who target our children to hide behind a keyboard or across the ocean.” “Today we honor Gavin s life and continue our fight against sextortion by holding this defendant accountable.”
Lawal can be sentenced to life in prison if he is proven guilty. According to the U.S. attorney’s office, he would also be subject to “mandatory minimum prison sentences on multiple counts,” including a maximum 30-year sentence for the offense of child exploitation resulting in death. Lawal may potentially be required to reimburse the Guffey family for the losses incurred throughout the plan.
The case is part of Project Safe Childhood, “a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse,” according to the U.S. attorney’s office. The investigation, arrest, and extradition were the result of a collaboration between U.S. and Nigerian law enforcement.
CORRECTION (at 7 p.m. ET on January 27, 2025): The position of Adair Ford Boroughs was misstated in an earlier version of this article. She is not the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia; rather, she is the U.S. attorney for the District of South Carolina, which is headquartered in Columbia.