‘Kids are scared to tell their parents:’ Nebraska officials share sextortion warnings

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Nebraska officials are sharing warnings about sextortion and online safety.

This comes after a 26-year-old man was caught posing as a student at a Lincoln high school.

An affidavit filed last week alleges that Zachary Scheich had texted with other students and asked for “pornographic material” from a student he previously paid.

He’s being charged with sex trafficking of a minor and two counts of child enticement with electronic communication, all of which are felonies.

Lincoln Police said that since Thursday, at least a dozen more people have come forward with tips or information about Scheich, and officials said there may be more victims.

Lt. Monty Lovelace with Nebraska State Patrol said when it comes to sextortion, many teens will be contacted online by bad actors, who will try to have sexual conversations and send explicit photos to them.

They’ll then ask the teen to respond with their own explicit photos. From there, they’ll exploit the teen for money or more photos and videos, under the threat that whatever they’ve sent will be released to friends or family.

He said in rare cases, criminals will even ask to meet up in person, which is a major red flag.

“Kids are scared to tell their parents about this,” Lovelace said. “They’re scared of their images getting out there, they’re scared of the humiliation. So sometimes they’ll pay it, which is the last thing that you want to do.”

He said if this ever happens to you or your child, contact authorities and do not send them any money or photos.

Lovelace recommends having open communication with kids and says it’s important to be transparent and set ground rules for phones.

“A lot of times things happen because parents don’t know who their kids are talking to, and they don’t take the time to understand the applications that their kids are using, or the time they’re spending on the phone itself.”

SEE ALSO: At least 900 people are sold by human traffickers in Nebraska every single month

Chief Deputy Ben Houchin of the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office also shared a warning about online safety.

He said there have been two recent instances of strangers contacting teenagers on Instagram and having sexual conversations before asking for explicit photos over other social media apps.

Houchin said in those cases, the teens were exploited after sending the photos and were asked for money.

He said this happens “way too often” across the U.S.

In some cases, Houchin said victims will even have their accounts hacked to obtain personal information.

“There is a revenge porn law that we have in Nebraska, but the problem is a lot of these are out of the country and there’s not a thing we can do,” he said.

Houchin said that nationally, some kids “end up committing suicide of the embarrassment.”

Although he hasn’t seen that in Nebraska, he said it’s important to be aware of how these incidents can impact mental health.

“Once you send something out on social media, it’s out there for everybody,” he said. “And there’s no getting it back.”