SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Jake Curtis had big dreams of becoming a schoolteacher just like his mom but those dreams and aspirations for the future abruptly ended after he became the victim of a sextortion scam after sending a nude photo to a girl he met online.
Unbeknownst to his family, Curtis was being blackmailed for five straight days and the extortionists were threatening to ruin his life by sending the nude photo along with his ID to his friends, family, employer, and school if he didn’t pay them. And rather than die of humiliation for sending the nude photo in the first place, Curtis died by suicide.
CINDY GEORGE’S HEARTBREAKING TESTIMONY
On November 7, Curtis’ mom, Cindy George, gave gut-wrenching testimony before lawmakers during an interim legislative committee hearing. She held up a picture of her beloved son and in painstaking detail, told them what led to her sons’ suicide.
She said, “It was the day before Halloween and I’m sitting at my desk grading papers. I got a call from the Millard County Sheriff’s Department, and they asked me if I had a home there, we had just this little getaway place there, and I said yes. And they said do you have a son named Jake and I said yes, and they said he just killed himself in your house and I said no you got the wrong kid.”
She proceeded to argue with sheriff’s investigators, “I said, nah you got the wrong kid, I don’t know who you have there but it’s not my child.”
She was immediately forced to confront the reality that her son had ended his life.
“It just didn’t make sense why would he do this,” she told lawmakers.
She said, “No mother should have to bury their son. I’m here because I cannot catch those evil people. Nothing was done to catch them.”
At the end of her tearful testimony she told lawmakers, “These evil people are preying upon our children and if we can’t stop them we need to prevent our youth from taking the bait. They need to understand what is preying upon them. They need to know that a mistake of sending a picture is not worth taking your life over.”
SEXTORTIONISTS THREATENED TO SPREAD DIRTY LITTLE SECRET IF HE DIDN’T WIRE MORE MONEY
None of what her son went through for five days was known to her or anyone in their family. However, before he died, Jake wrote letters – one to his mom telling her to look at his cellphone and she would understand what led to his demise. A texting thread revealing he was being blackmailed over a nude photo and they threatened to spread his “dirty little secret” if he didn’t wire them more money. His letter to his mom, released to her months after his death would provide a road map to sextortion resulting in tragic consequences. Jake told her the messages would explain everything and to start with the girl profile named “Alone at Home” and then move onto the one called “Just for Fun.”
Dear Mom,
I love you so much and it pains to write this. I wish I could live with what I did. I love you dearly Mom. You will always be my mother, and I will always be your baby boy.
I know this is sudden but the hell I went through from Sunday to Thursday was too much for me to handle. From Sunday to Thursday my life has been a living hell and a rollercoaster of emotion. The one person that owns these two profiles will be using Facebook to ruin my life.
‘IT WAS SO EVIL’
As she followed his instructions she said, “I just shook as I read this conversation because it was so evil.”
He met a girl online. She asked him to send her a nude picture.
“And as soon as he sent it, he got a message saying, “Now we’ve got you, you’re gonna pay us or we’re going to ruin your life with this, with this picture.”
ACTUAL TEXTS BETWEEN JAKE CURTIS AND SEXTORTIONIST:
Jake Curtis had big dreams of becoming a schoolteacher just like his mom but those dreams and aspirations for the future abruptly ended after he became the victim of a sextortion scam after sending a nude photo to a girl he met online.
For five consecutive days Jake was the victim of sextortion. The first payment required was three-hundred dollars. The extortionist demanded a picture of the money he had just taken from the ATM. His text message shows him holding the phone and the money.
Jake Curtis had big dreams of becoming a schoolteacher just like his mom but those dreams and aspirations for the future abruptly ended after he became the victim of a sextortion scam after sending a nude photo to a girl he met online.
‘YOU ARE MY GENIE TODAY, AND I FOUND YOU, SO YOU HAVE TO GRANT ME MY 3 WISHES, WHICH MEANS YOU HAVE TO MAKE 3 PAYMENTS’
He was instructed to wire the money to Mariz Zabril in the Philippines. He did what he was told. He was about to find out it was far from over.
“After he was done, he said, okay now you said you would delete my picture, now delete it, and this person said, we’ll you’re gonna be our personal genie.”
“He said that I don’t have any more. He paid everything he had six-hundred-eighty dollars, and they wanted more.”
Jake Curtis had big dreams of becoming a schoolteacher just like his mom but those dreams and aspirations for the future abruptly ended after he became the victim of a sextortion scam after sending a nude photo to a girl he met online.
Jake even sent them a screenshot of his bank account showing he had nothing left and they asked for more. George says she could see in the text messages that he realized this was never going to end. Choking back tears she told lawmakers, “And I could feel in the conversation where he started to give up.”
‘WHEN YOU SAY I’M GOING TO KILL MYSELF, THEY’LL SAY FINE WE DON’T CARE’
The extortionist texted “You either send it or your life will get ruined.”
Jake texted: “I will be dead.”
The response, “Sure you will and i will still post it”
Jake wrote that it won’t matter.
What followed next was far more than a veiled threat to expose his nude picture.
“Your family will get involved because you will die with so much embarassment. Imagine them, your friends, your job and your school having your nude photo together with your id.”
He texted, “You won’t get any money from me if I’m not here.”
Then a text message that read:
5 guys committed suicide because i posted their nudes and ruin their life
But i never care
You will be the 6th and i still wont care
‘THEY PROCEEDED TO PUSH HIM TO DO IT’
At this point, George before lawmakers was inconsolable. “And the person replied, “Oh are you gonna kill yourself like five other guys did’ and then they said go ahead do it. I don’t care.”
Writing, we are watching the clock, so you better tell me to stop now, or I’ll spread your dirty little secret Jake.
And then they proceeded to push him to do it, George says.
The extortionist texted, “Its ready.” Jake texted, “As soon as you do you have killed me.” The response, “I like that” warning the nude photo was ready with a click.
UPD SGT. ROB SCOTT: “WE GET SEVERAL CASES A WEEK”
“It’s horrific,” says Unified Police Sergeant Rob Scott with the Special Victims Unit. He is very familiar with the death of Jake Curtis. When asked how pervasive of a problem sextortion is in Utah, he said, “It’s extremely pervasive. It’s all over we get just in Unified jurisdiction alone, we get several cases a week, so it is, it’s constant.”
The most common victim he says is males between the ages of 12 to 18.
At that age he says, “You’re very driven by your hormones and you’re very impulsive and you’re very driven by attention from the opposite sex.”
“I’m getting attention from somebody – this feels good – I want to kind of go down this path and see how this feels, and they get themselves trapped very quickly.”
Sgt. Scott says, “Talking about sex with your kids that is an absolute must.”
He warns parents if you haven’t had that conversation about sex by the time your child is nine or ten years old, it’s already too late.
“Usually, kids will have adults that are invested in their lives, so who is that, is that a teacher, is that the person at the grocery store that you talk to everyday when you go get a treat – the guy at the 7-Eleven that you get a Big Gulp from. That adult that you can talk to about your life, most kids have something like that in their life it and it oftentimes it’s not a parent.”
He says kids need to let that adult know.
“Hey, I’m in a bad situation, I made a bad mistake, I need some help and for that adult to walk alongside of them in grace and understanding and to help them.”
Jake Curtis had big dreams of becoming a schoolteacher just like his mom but those dreams and aspirations for the future abruptly ended after he became the victim of a sextortion scam after sending a nude photo to a girl he met online.
Sgt. Scott is trying to prevent another tragedy and is offering to speak to youth for free about internet safety, dangers of pornography and how to protect youth particularly 12 to 18 year-old males from sex exploitation. If you are a leader of a youth group, church group, scout group or other group call him at 385-468-9830. Or send him an email at rscott@updsl.org
It’s important to note, that finding the extortionists is extremely difficult. In this case it may have originated from the Philippines. Sgt. Scott says it is almost impossible to investigate because they have no jurisdiction in foreign countries.
