Wednesday 28 October 2026Compiled from published reports. Every claim links to its source.

Ireland Crime

Every case followed from the first report to the sentence, or to where the reporting stopped.

Case No. 5197Sextortion (blackmail)

Gardaí probe sextortion of teenage boy over nude picture

A teenage boy was blackmailed in August 2024 after a person who had befriended him on Instagram tricked him into sending a nude picture of himself via Snapchat. The person threatened to share the image with his friends unless he paid €1,000, and gave him two days to pay last week. The boy told his parents, who refused to pay and reported the matter to gardaí, who opened a new sextortion investigation reported on 26 August 2024. The image was not published online, the blackmailers shut down contact once they learned gardaí were involved, and gardaí are trying to identify those behind it. No arrests or charges are reported.

  1. Reported26 Aug
  2. Arrested
  3. Charged
  4. In court
  5. Verdict
  6. Sentenced
reportedhappened, not reportedlatest stagenot yet

Key facts

consolidated from all reports
What happened
  • A teenage boy was tricked into sending a nude picture of himself via Snapchat.
  • The blackmailer threatened to share the image with the boy's friends unless he paid €1,000.
When
The boy was given two days to pay the money last week, according to a report dated 26 August 2024.
Cause
The blackmailer befriended the boy on Instagram and used an image of a woman with a fake name to lure him in.
Other details
  • A second phone was used to photograph the image before Snapchat automatically deleted it.
  • The image was not published online, and the blackmailers shut down contact once they learned gardaí were involved.
Investigation
  • The boy told his parents, who refused to pay and reported the incident to the police.
  • Gardaí are probing the case as a new sextortion case and are trying to track down those behind it.
Charges
No arrests or charges are reported in the article.
8 statements extracted from the articles
  • whatThe boy was tricked into sending a nude picture of himself to someone via Snapchat. (irishmirror.ie)
  • whatThe blackmailer threatened to share the image with the boy's friends unless he paid €1,000. (irishmirror.ie)
  • whenThe boy was given two days to pay the money last week. (irishmirror.ie)
  • causeThe blackmailer befriended the boy via Instagram. (irishmirror.ie)
  • investigationThe boy eventually told his parents, who reported the incident to the police. (irishmirror.ie)
  • investigationThe family refused to pay the money and gardaí are trying to track down those behind the scam. (irishmirror.ie)
  • investigationGardaí are probing the case as a new sextortion case. (irishmirror.ie)
  • otherThe image was not published online, and the blackmailers shut down contact once they learned gardaí were involved. (irishmirror.ie)

The reporting

newest first
  1. 26 Aug2024
    Reportedirishmirror.ie, first report
    Gardaí launch 'sextortion' probe after teenage boy blackmailed over nude pic

    Reports a new Garda sextortion investigation involving a teenage boy. The article also gives background statistics on other sextortion cases and on Coco's Law, which are not part of this case.

    victim, teenage, malesuspect