Man Arrested in 'Sextortion' Case Linked to Teen Boy's Suicide

San Jose, California police have arrested a man in connection with the “sextortion” suicide of a 17-year-old boy in February 2022.

Per NBC Bay Area, Los Angeles authorities arrested 25-year-old Jonathan Kassi of Reseda on Thursday, Dec. 15. He was later transferred to the San Jose police department, which booked him on charges of extortion and attempted disorderly conduct. According to law enforcement, Kassi posed as a teen girl online and allegedly persuaded his victim, 17-year-old Ryan Last, to share an explicit photo. When Kassi and an unnamed co-conspirator received the photo from the teen, they threatened to send it to his friends and family unless he paid them $5,000.

Investigators found that Last sent money to Kassi, who later demanded more. The teen was set to turn 18 just a few days before his death by suicide. Per the the San Jose Police Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, Kassi is believed to be connected to a West African financial sextortion scheme that targets children online. He had usernames such as "emillysmith" and "kassijonathan" across various social media platforms, police said.

“Any time you do anything online, there’s a trail,” said Christian Camarillo of the San Jose Police Department, who added they were able to track down Kassi online and believes there could be more victims. “Our detectives are very good at what they do. That trail led us to this person who we located in Los Angeles and today he’s getting arraigned in our courts.”

Last month, Pauline Stuart said she’s glad that authorities were able to track down the suspect who targeted her son. “It’s amazing to know they worked really hard and were able to get somebody,” said Stuart. “There’s still a lot of work that needs to be done in educating families and kids.”