Sextortion – The Hidden Pandemic & What It’s Doing to Our Youth

Last month, justice was finally served for Amanda Todd, the Canadian teen who took her life in one of the most high-profile Sextortion cases on record. It was unsealed for the first time in 1091 Pictures global release, timed to Mental Health Awareness Month in the global TVOD/digital release of Auroris Media’s inspirational, fast moving, and timely feature documentary Sextortion: The Hidden Pandemic from director, editor & producer Maria Peek, p.g.a. (“I Dream of Dance,” “Third Grade”) and producer & cinematographer Stephen Peek, p.g.a. (“Unacknowledged,” “Renegade”).  Amanda’s mother and other victims also speak in this film.In this Janette’s TV & Janette’s TV Podcast episode, Janette sits down with Stephen & Maria Peek to discuss what sextortion is and how it is affecting our youth and how the film merges true crime with an empowering educational opportunity that provides families with essential ways to keep their children safe on the Internet. The filmmakers experienced Sextortion in real time through one of their children’s classmates, and it inspired them to be the change they want to see in the world. With a rapidly moving running time of 85 minutes, you will be engaged and inspired to help save kids around the globe once you watch this documentary.Premiering at this year’s Santa Barbara International Film Festival as part of the Social Justice Feature Documentaries, and recently through the Spotlight Docs Series (a 501c3 that the filmmakers founded), along with the film came a recently completed sold-out 20+ city educational tour around the U.S. (to audiences of over 5,000 people), where the filmmakers, and Federal agents who ran the landmark case (declassified for first time in this film), have been onsite to experience the emotional and powerful moments—where victims and victims’ families spoke up during the post screening Q&A’s. They have over 200 additional requests across the globe asking for an educational screening series in their cities.  The EU Parliament and The Pentagon have begun planning screenings with the filmmakers for later this year and into 2023.The case featured in the film was declassified by (HSI) right before its release, comparable in scope to the case featured in the critically acclaimed “Spotlight.” It’s important to note the difference between human trafficking (cases in the hundreds of thousands), and sextortion (cases in the tens of millions) – as sextortion is 1,000 times more prevalent and is often the precursor to trafficking. 1 in 4 kids are affected or know someone who has been affected by sextortion.Through partnerships with the Department of Justice and Homeland Security, the filmmaking team had unique unrestricted access to all government documents for an international sextortion case of a Top Gun pilot with hundreds of victims, unsealed for this film for the very first time. By interviewing survivors and their parents, this true crime piece exposes this fastest growing crime against children, the tactics of online predators, and the voices of parents and law enforcement poised to stop online child exploitation in its tracks. Through interviews with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), “Sextortion: The Hidden Pandemic” shows the scale of online enticement and exploitation of children-- and what we can do to stop it.  The filmmakers created an online educational curriculum in partnership with NCSupport the showSign up to become a member of Janette's TV Youtube Channel!https://www.youtube.com/@JanettesTV/videos