Nigerian man indicted for sextortion extradited to US

“Lawal allegedly posed as a young woman on social media and coerced the teen into sending compromising photos,” it said. “He then extorted and sent harassing messages to the teen threatening to leak the photos and ruin his reputation unless the teen sent him money.”

Lawal was indicted by a federal grand jury in South Carolina in October 2023 and flown to the United States on Friday, the Justice Department said.

“We will not allow predators who target our children to hide behind a keyboard or across the ocean,” US Attorney Adair Ford Boroughs said. “Today we honor Gavin’s life and continue our fight against sextortion by holding this defendant accountable.”

The South Carolina legislature passed a bill following Guffey’s death known as “Gavin’s Law” that makes sexual extortion a felony offense and an aggravated felony if the victim is a minor or suffers bodily injury or death directly related to the crime.