The grieving parents of a teenage boy who killed himself after falling prey to a ‘sextortion’ scam have spoken out in a bid to help other young Australian victims.
Rohan Cosgriff, from Ballarat in Victoria’s Central Highlands, about 115km northwest of Melbourne, had ‘befriended’ a teenage girl on Instagram.
The 17-year-old didn’t realize that the girl he was talking to was a cruel con artist from Nigeria.
After gaining his trust, the scammer convinced Rohan to send an explicit photo of himself.
After the photo was sent, the scammer threatened to make Rohan’s image public and demanded the teen pay $1,000.
On July 26, 2022, within hours of being blackmailed, Rohan took his own life.
Rohan Cosgriff, 17, (photo) took his own life in 2022 after becoming a victim of extortion
On the night of Rohan’s death, his father, Anthony Cosgriff, was doing paperwork on his computer when his wife, Beck, noticed their son was not in his room.
The couple began searching their home and the horse stables on their property for their teenage son. They even called his mobile number but there was no answer.
“I thought I’d just go over there and look at what we call the oval, the lawn where we used to play ball games next to the house,” Mr. Cosgriff said. 7News in the spotlight.
It was there where Mr Cosgriff saw his son’s body and made the heartbreaking discovery that he had committed suicide.
The devastated father did everything he could to bring his son back and performed CPR until paramedics arrived.
A sobbing Mrs. Cosgriff said she and her husband sat in their car and watched as paramedics worked on their son but were unable to save him.
“I went in and I didn’t want Rohan to get cold, so I just grabbed his duvet,” Mrs Cosgriff said.
“We also had a pillow, and we just put the pillow under his head and we just laid with him in the rain and just patted his hair and told him we loved him.”
His heartbroken parents Beck and Anthony Cosgriff (pictured) spoke out about their son’s devastating death, hoping they can prevent other young Aussies from falling victim to this cruel scam.
The next day, police found a note in Rohan’s bedroom that read: ‘I’m sorry. I made a big mistake. I love you all so much.”
The Cosgriffs soon discovered their son was the victim of a sextortion scam and have spoken out in the hope they can help other young Aussies.
Rohan had said that the scammer’s blackmail was illegal and that he was “just a kid” and had no money.
Just hours before Rohan committed suicide, he received a response from the scammer that read: “Right, now you have half an hour before we ruin your life.”
‘According to the police officer, the pressure put on him was enormous. And that it was within an hour of first being asked for money,” Cosgriff said.
Mr Cosgriff believes the traditional message of ‘don’t send explicit images’ should be backed up by ‘if you do, it’s not the end of the world’. We can fix it.”
His wife agrees, claiming the message should take away the shame of teenagers who have sent explicit images.
“The reality is a lot of kids send damn pictures. They just do that. They shouldn’t do that. It’s a stupid thing to do. But they get caught up in the moment for whatever reason,” Ms. Cosgriff said.
‘People need to know that something can be done about it, that they don’t commit the crime. Someone else is committing a crime against them.”
“Rowan was the victim of a crime and that’s why he’s dead.”
Rohan befriended a stranger posing as a teenage girl on Instagram. The scammer pressured him to send an explicit photo of himself before threatening to share the image unless he paid $1,000.
In July 2022, an investigation into Rohan’s death was launched by Victoria Police, who alerted the Australian Federal Police in October, but no official referral was ever made.
The AFP explained that it was never the agency responsible for leading the investigation, while details of the case were not passed on to Nigerian authorities.
In a statement on April 17, Victoria Police said case information had been forwarded to the Australian Center to Counter Child Exploitation, which is “further investigating the matter.”