Derek Lints wipes away tears as he talks about his son Daniel, 17, at his home in Pilot Mound, Man., on June 15. Daniel Lints was sexually exploited online in February and committed suicide as a result.JOHN WOODS/The Canadian Press
Daniel Lints was kind and responsible with a witty sense of humor. The rural Manitoba teenager had a bright future and a loving family. He played hockey and was a constant visitor to the nearby community pool.
He was a normal, happy 17-year-old until one cold February day he accepted a message request from what appeared to be an attractive young woman on Snapchat.
She forced him to send an explicit image. Within minutes he was being blackmailed and within three hours he took his own life.
“I feel like he was murdered,” says Derek Lints, Daniel’s father, as tears stream down his cheeks.
Lints and his wife Jill say they are dealing with an unimaginable tragedy. Daniel, whom most people called Danny, was the victim of a growing global sextortion scheme that primarily targets teenagers.
“I know Danny would have made a difference in this world,” says Jill Lints sitting at the family’s kitchen table in Pilot Mound, Man., 112 miles southwest of Winnipeg. “He would have done good things and he already did good things.
“The world lost a good person.”
Law enforcement agencies around the world have been sending urgent warnings about sextortion against children.
The ruse is sophisticated, says Stephen Sauer, director of Cybertip.ca at the Canadian Center for Child Welfare. Foreign-based organized crime gangs pose as young women on social media platforms used by teenagers, such as Snapchat and Instagram.
They quickly approach teens and give them sexual attention. Users take advantage of young people’s level of development and impulsiveness and are quick to ask for a picture or video, says Sauer.
Then the threats begin.
Sauer says anonymous users, knowing they will be embarrassed, say they will send the images to family and friends if the teens don’t give them money.
“Young people specifically are quite vulnerable to this.” he says. “They are still developing their sense of self. They are still developing their identity and often engage in sexual exploration.”
Many of the teens, like Danny, empty their bank accounts. But too often, when the blackmail continues, they take their own lives.
The RCMP National Child Exploitation Crime Center received a total of 52,306 complaints for the 2020-21 year, a 510 percent increase from seven years earlier. Experts have pointed to increased online activity during the pandemic as a contributing factor.
Cybertip, Canada’s hotline for reporting child sexual abuse online, had an average of 20 reports a month for this type of sexual exploitation in 2021. It shot up to 55 a month this year and increased further to 75 reports in May. .
Mounted from coast to coast have issued warnings. Calgary police warned earlier this month that they have had nearly 50 cases in that city alone since the year began. “We believe these crimes are largely underreported,” said Sgt. Graeme Smiley said.
Police tell parents to talk to their children about online risks. RCMP says that any victim of sexual exploitation should stop contacting the perpetrator and notify a trusted adult, Cybertip or the police.
Danny’s parents say at least two other children in their small Manitoba community were attacked in the months after their son’s death.
Pilot Mound, with a population of just over 600, was the ideal place to raise their son and two daughters, they say. People take care of each other and there is a sense of security.
They never expected a threat from all over the world to leak through social media.
Daniel was calm and happy. He worked hard and bought his first mobile tablet with his own savings to play games with friends. Derek Lints talked to his son about staying safe online.
As Daniel got older, he was given more freedom online. He told his family about a presentation at school about Amanda Todd, who took her own life at age 15 in 2012 after years of online sextortion. A Dutch citizen is on trial in British Columbia and has pleaded not guilty to five charges, including criminal harassment and communication with a youth to commit a sexual offence.
One in three Internet users in the world is a child, one in five in Canada. Many countries are putting pressure on social media companies to ensure platforms are safe for that demographic.
The European Union recently agreed to a landmark regulation for tech giants. Australia and New Zealand are moving in the same direction.
Canada has created an online safety advisory council to form a regulatory framework to address harmful content online.
Sauer says that social media platforms have a responsibility to keep children safe. There is much more they could do, she says.
“There seems to be a lack of will and a lack of pressure and obviously a lack of regulation in this space.”
More than 10 years after Todd’s death, the Lints are frustrated that the children are still in danger. They want all parents and teens to be aware of sextortion scams. They want to put pressure on social media companies to keep children safe.
“This is our way of fighting these predators that stole Danny from us. This is what we can do right now,” says Jill Lints.
“We can tell everyone.”
Where to get help@
Visit Canada’s National Cyber Tip Line Cybertip.ca to report online sexual abuse/exploitation, the non-consensual distribution of intimate images, or other forms of victimization of children online.
If you know of a child who is in immediate danger or risk, call 911 or your local police.
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