US EditionFour men arrested in West Africa for extortion scheme linked to California teen's suicide
- Four men from Ivory Coast were arrested in April 2024 in connection with an international sextortion scheme linked to a San Jose teen's 2022 suicide.
- The arrests followed a lengthy investigation after 17-year-old Ryan Last was coerced by a man pretending to be a young woman into paying money before he died by suicide.
- Ryan, a straight-A student and Eagle Scout candidate, was threatened with exposure of intimate photos and paid $150, but the harassment continued until his death.
- Authorities said Alfred Kassi was the primary suspect arrested on April 29, with accomplices Oumarou Ouedraogo, Moussa Diaby, and Oumar Cisse who will face prosecution in Ivory Coast, which does not extradite its citizens.
- The FBI continues investigating this and related sextortion cases, warning the rise of such crimes, while victims can report via the Internet Crime Complaint Center or seek crisis help via national hotlines.
38 Articles
38 Articles
'Sextortion' ring targeting thousands of minors worldwide was just disrupted by the FBI, officials say
Ryan Last died by suicide in 2022. | Courtesy Pauline Stuart via CNN Newsource (CNN) — It was news that Pauline Stuart thought might never come: The man believed to be responsible for the death of her teenage son years earlier is finally behind bars. “It still seems a little unreal that it happened,” she told CNN on Thursday. “I kind of believed that it would never happen, but law enforcement never gave up.” The suspect, Alfred Kassi, was recent…
He Was Just 17 When Sextortion Drove Him to Suicide — Now Police Say They’ve Found His Blackmailers
Four men in Côte d’Ivoire have been arrested in connection with an international “sextortion” scheme that targeted a 17-year-old from the San Francisco Bay area, Ryan Last, who died by suicide. The February 2022 death of Last, prompted an international investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Associated Press News
Four men arrested in West Africa for extortion scheme linked to San Jose teen's suicide
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