MARQUETTE — A U.P. mom is raising awareness on social media, after her son committed suicide in connection with a sextortion scheme.
Jordan DeMay was a senior at Marquette Senior High School in March 2022 when this happened. He was an athlete who played basketball and football. He had a lot of friends and was close to his family.
His mom, Jennifer Buta, said she felt this tragedy could have been avoided, so now she’s trying to educate others about the online dangers kids face every day.
“The hope is to prevent this from happening to anybody else,” said Buta.
Buta said it’s really important for young people to understand the dangers that could be lurking online and for them to really know who they are talking to.
“Some parents assume that this would never happen to my child. They would never get caught up in this. But the reality is, it is happening. And the people who are doing this, this is their job, this is their profession,” said Buta.
Buta said she was once one of those people. She said she was shocked and confused when her son took his own life.
“There was literally no reason for my son to do this. I just kept asking what happened? What happened? He was getting ready to go on vacation the following day. And none of this made sense or sat right with me,” said Buta.
She said she soon found out that someone pretending to be a girl had messaged her son and after a short time texting, talked him into exchanging inappropriate pictures. But after they exchanged pictures, everything changed and he was threatened that the photo would be sent to his family and friends, if Jordan did not send $1,000.
Buta said his son sent all he had, $300 but it wasn’t enough. She said she wishes Jordan had reached out to her or someone else he trusted.
“For my son and for any person that may go through this. It’s just a photo. It’s just this small piece of your life that will only matter for this moment. And you have the rest of your life to live. And nobody will remember this small thing. And also, this isn’t your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong,” said Buta.
She said she’s now hoping to spread awareness to other young people and their parents that this could happen to anyone.
“I have received an overwhelming amount of comments and messages. Many of the comments are that this has happened to them, their child, someone that they know. The other side of that coin is they didn’t know about it. So, I think it is reaching a lot of people,” said Buta.
She said it’s important to have these discussions before the situation arises.
“Talk to your children. Have a plan in place so that if it does happen, they know to go to someone. And you’re loved and your life is important,” said Buta.
A group of men from Nigeria were recently charged in federal court, on suspicion of operating an international sextortion ring, targeting young men and teenage boys.
One of them, has been charged for causing Jordan’s death. The men have pleaded not guilty. A third suspect is in custody, awaiting charges.
Buta said she plans to be at every court hearing.
