Two bills designed to protect children from sextortion scams signed into law

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – With the signature of Governor Tate Reeves two bills designed to protect children from sextortion scams and punish those responsible are now law.

The bills are named in honor of Walker Montgomery, a Starkville teenager who took his own life after he became a victim of sextortion scammers in Nigeria.

His family attended the bill signing Tuesday after fighting for the legislation.

Sextortion often begins with a message using social media. Brian Montgomery says his son made a video when he was 10th grade. The scammers threatened to share the video if they did not receive money.

Montgomery is hoping this law will help shield other families from the pain, devastation and grief of losing a child.

Montgomery said, “we lost Walker December 1st of 2022. Worked on the language of the bill throughout a good bit of ‘23 and we passed it in this session of ‘24. So really I think relative to this kind of legislation that brought the kind of opposition from tech companies pretty quick, but it was a lot of work. A lot of time and energy.”

Montgomery said, tech companies learned they are no match for every day people who want to protect their families.

One of the new laws creates criminal penalties for those convicted of sextortion. Another is designed to force digital service providers to implement safeguards to protect minors online.

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