Teen sextortion victim's death prompts online safety pledges

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 30 Oct, 18:20 · Archive

Cai Davies, 18, took his own life after falling victim to an online sextortion scam operated from Africa.

Cai Davies, 18, from Pontypridd, Rhondra Cynon Taf, died in June after he was found hanging. He had sent intimate pictures and videos to a woman he believed had a romantic interest in him. In reality, he had been targeted by scammers operating from the Ivory Coast in Africa.

The scammers demanded money from him and threatened to send the intimate images to his friends and post them on YouTube. The images were indeed sent to at least one of Cai's Facebook friends. Cai was bombarded with video calls and messages via Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp over a short period making demands for money.

Assistant coroner Rachel Knight recorded a conclusion of suicide. She said it was 'more likely than not' that personal stresses in Cai's life, together with falling victim to the sextortion scam, 'more than minimally contributed' to his death. Following the inquest, the coroner issued a Regulation 28 preventing future deaths report to the UK and Welsh governments setting out her concerns about how Cai had fallen victim to the scam.

Online safety minister Ian Murray said the UK government remains committed to making the online world as safe as possible for young people and set out several recent measures it had taken to protect children.

How it is being reported

• Ministers vow online safety action after teen sextortion victim took own lifeCai Davies died after he had sent messages to a woman he believed had a romantic interest in him.BBC Wales · 30 Oct, 18:08
• Changes promised after Pontypridd teen sextortion victim took his own lifeCai Davies, 18, took his own life after he had sent messages to a woman he believed had a romantic interest in him before realising he'd fallen victim to a sextortion blackmail scamWalesOnline · 30 Oct, 13:32

In this story: Cai Davies · Pontypridd · Ivory Coast · Ian Murray · Rachel Knight

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log