Online safety education could help prevent deaths like that of a teenager who was sextorted, a coroner says.
Rohan Patrick Cosgriff was 17 when he was found dead at his home near Ballarat in July 2022.
In his pocket was a note that read, “I made a big mistake. I’m sorry.”
Police later discovered that the teenager had been a victim of sexual extortion in the two days before his death.
He was pressured into sending an intimate photo of himself to someone called ‘Christine’ on SnapChat, who then threatened to distribute the photos if money was not paid.
Investigators were unable to identify the person, but did discover that the SnapChat account originated in Nigeria.
In a report published last week, Victoria Coroner Audrey Jamieson said there was plenty of information available for those who needed it, but that education needed to change.
“The fact is that despite all the education in the world and no matter how many times the message ‘don’t send intimate images’ is repeated, young people will continue to do these things,” Jamieson said.
“The conversation should be about: if you end up in this situation, it will be okay.”
Teenage sextortion victims like Rohan Cosgriff need to know they will be okay, coroner says
Rohan befriended a stranger who posed as a teenage girl on Instagram
In total, eleven other young people have committed suicide in the past ten years after being victims of sextortion or online abuse.
At least seven others died after experiencing sexual harassment, but not sexual acts or sextortion.
“When a young person finds themselves in a situation like Rohan, the most important thing is that they know they have done nothing wrong,” the coroner wrote.
‘And that the situation will not determine the rest of their lives.’
The coroner also suggested the teenager’s death could be relevant to legislative reviews of the nation’s Online Safety Act, particularly in relation to combating sextortion by transnational criminal gangs.
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