A man from the USA has been arrested for sexually abusing children online that investigators suspect led to one 17-year-old boy’s suicide.
Jonathan Kassi, 25, from the Reseda neighbourhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, was taken into custody, concerning a financial sextortion scheme on Thursday, 15th December.
The police reportedly began investigating Kassi after a teenage boy identified as Ryan Last, 17, was found dead by his mother Pauline Stuart at around 2am on 26th February.
Pauline claimed that the 17-year-old straight-A student and Boy Scout used to spend a huge amount of time online during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He then reportedly began talking to someone who she thought was a teenage girl.
She explained that he had sent explicit images of himself to the alleged girl and added: “And as soon as he did they demanded USD 5,000 (GBP 4,126) from him.
“He couldn’t pay that so, then they negotiated down and he was able to pay USD 150 (GBP 124) from his account but as that was the issue, because as soon as he paid they realised there was money there.”
But when Kassi allegedly persisted in threatening to publish the photos online, Last saw no way out but to commit suicide.
Pauline said: “His note apologized for not being smarter. To him, he wasn’t smart because he fell for this scam.
“He believed in somebody and that devastates me that he felt that he wasn’t smart because somebody took advantage of him.”
Meanwhile, Kassi was booked for extortion and attempted disorderly conduct, for allegedly posting a photograph or recording without consent, at the Santa Clara County Main Jail in the city of San Jose.
The San Jose Police Department revealed in a statement on Monday, 19th December, that the alleged offender had operated under the usernames ’emillysmith’ and ‘kassijonathan’ on multiple social media platforms.
The department said in the statement obtained by Newsflash: “Detectives believe there could be additional victims due to the suspect’s criminal pattern and use of social media to target minors.”
They urged anyone with information concerning the case or other similar cases involving the suspect to contact them through phone or e-mail.
The investigation continues.
