Abolore Lawal extradited to US, faces ‘sextortion’ scam charges
Sopuruchi Onwuka, with agency reports
Twenty four year old Hassanbunhussein Abolore Lawal, who is indicted for alleged sex extortion scam that claimed the life of a 17 year old American student, has been extradited to the US to face the charges and probably face the wrath of the victim’s enraged father.
It was gathered that the suspect was extradited from Nigeria to the US weekend on charges that he targeted 17-year-old Gavin Guffey in a sexual extortion or “sextortion” scheme that led to the teen’s death.
Gavin’s father, Brandon Guffey, has been pursuing justice for his late son after his death was linked to financial demand pressure from Lawal who is alleged to have threatened to publish the victim’s nude photos.
Rep. Brandon Guffey of South Carolina believes Lawal caused his son’s suicide, and now awaits the outcome of the proceedings which hold at court in Columbia, South Carolina, the United States. And he has spent over two years of relentless effort fighting for justice for his son.
Rep Guffrey
It was gathered that Lawal appeared in court in on Monday following his extradition to the United States.
It was gathered that the FBI, working with the Nigerian Police, arrested Lawal in Lagos last week following an extradition hearing. And Rep Guffey had to sign paperwork confirming he would not push for the death penalty to ensure that the Nigerian government approved the extradition, he said.
As part of a sextortion scheme, Lawal allegedly masqueraded as a young woman on social media and sent Gavin nude photos. He asked for similar images of himself, and once Gavin shared the photos, the suspect threatened to publicize them if he didn’t pay, the Justice Department said.
He’s pleaded not guilty to charges of child exploitation resulting in death, distribution of child sexual abuse material, coercion and enticement of a minor, cyberstalking, interstate threats with intent to extort and aiding/abetting, according to court records.
Lawal is also alleged to have threatened other family members after Gavin Guffey’s death
At Monday’s hearing Guffey wore a black T-shirt with the love symbol <3. It represents the last text message Gavin sent loved ones on July 27, 2022, minutes before he shot himself in a bathroom at the family home in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
Last week, Rep Guffrey was surprised to get a call from federal investigators notifying him that the extradition had been approved and they were on their way to pick up Lawal. Investigators confirmed his arrival in Columbia on Saturday.
“It was a surprise. I knew that they had been working on the process, but extradition was not something that commonly happens with Nigeria,” Guffey said. “There was still that anticipation and fear until his feet were actually on US soil.”
At a press conference, investigators declined to provide details on how they tracked the suspect to Nigeria or whether there were other suspects involved. Some of the court documents in the case are sealed.
US Attorney for the District of South Carolina, Adair Ford Boroughs, said: “This investigation and extradition are the result of tremendous law enforcement coordination both in the United States and Nigeria,”. “We will not allow predators who target our children to hide behind a keyboard or across the ocean.”
Local reports have it that Lawal faces up to life in prison, while the charge of child exploitation resulting in death alone carries a mandatory 30-year sentence. A court may also order he pay restitution for losses incurred by the Guffey family because of the scheme.
Guffey said the scammer’s extortion attempts continued even after his son’s death. Anyone with the last name Guffey among Gavin’s Instagram followers started getting messages demanding money, he said. About two weeks after his son’s funeral, Guffey said he received a private Instagram message with a laughing emoji. Guffey and his younger son also got messages demanding money in exchange for not releasing Gavin’s nude photos.
Guffey shared the messages with federal investigators, and they took control of the social media accounts and began communicating with the scammer — which eventually helped them learn his identity, he said.
“They were able to pick up the conversation as agents to where he thought that he was talking to my 16-year-old. They were able to track him down, I think through that conversation and his continued efforts of trying to extort me as well,” he said.
“This was a multifaceted operation. It wasn’t just one group. It started with our York County Sheriff’s Department, along with our South Carolina law enforcement division, tying in with FBI and Homeland Security.”
The FBI warns that sextortion scams targeting kids have increased in recent years, adding that sexual extortion schemes are increasingly targeting underage boys and leading to an alarming increase in suicides nationwide.
At the time of his son’s death, Guffey was running for state representative. After he was elected, he introduced a bill that criminalizes the type of scam that led to his son’s death.
In 2023 South Carolina passed “Gavin’s Law,” which is named after his son and makes sextortion of minors and vulnerable people an aggravated felony. It also requires schools in the state to teach students about the dangers of sextortion and how to identify potential scammers.
“Awareness really is 90% of the battle,” Guffey said. “We can talk until we are blue in the face, but I don’t care what type of parent you are, it’s very difficult to protect your children from everything.”
Guffey has also sued Meta, Instagram’s parent company, for wrongful death, gross negligence and other claims, saying it does not do enough to protect children like Gavin from online predators.
A Meta spokesperson told CNN last year that teen safety is a big priority for the company and that it offers dozens of resources to help its young users stay safe. Guffey’s lawsuit against the company is still pending.
Guffey also is working with Cyber Dive, a company that has created a children’s smartphone with a nudity detection feature that shuts down the phone’s camera if male or female genitalia is detected.
“The phone … allows parents to see every single action that their child has taken on social media, regardless of what app they’re on,” said Jeff Gottfurcht, CEO of Cyber Dive. “Anything the child does using that phone is sent in real time to a parent dashboard where parents get to see it.”
Guffey said he wants to make sure no other parent suffers the same loss.
“My mission in life, regardless of politics or anything else, is to protect kids until the day that I die,” he said.