In recent months the cases of "sextortion", sexual extortion against adolescents through social networks have been increasing dramatically .

There are already over a hundred reports received by the State Police that involved minors, mostly aged between 15 and 17 , and even younger ones.

It is a phenomenon, usually aimed at the adult world, with an enormous potential for danger - explains the police - because today it affects underage victims , as fragile as they are inexperienced .

In Sardinia there are six cases of sextortion that see minors as protagonists, with the Postal Police having already identified and reported those responsible .

More and more often, the sexual curiosity of boys transports them into a nightmare made of blackmail , insistent requests for money and threats to destroy their reputation by spreading sexual images obtained through live chat on social media.

It all starts with some chats with social profiles of kind and handsome girls and boys, appreciation and likes for the photos posted. We then move on to video chats and requests are made more and more pushed. In the following days, the online hammering includes the request for even small amounts of money , with the threat that, in the event of non-payment, the sexual material will be spread among all contacts, friends and relatives.

Victims , trapped between shame and fear that intimate images may be seen by their contacts, tend to keep everything to themselves, not to confide in anyone, especially their parents.

For this reason, the phenomenon is underestimated, the State Police explain, because the complaint requires the children to disclose their parents, which at times appears more painful than the threats of extortion.

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