Police Arrest Two People in Pakistan in St Lawrence County Teen's’ Suicide Case
By Ben Muir
Lisbon: State police wanted Rosemarie Maneri to be the first to know that arrests were made in connection with the death of an 18-year-old last year.
State police announced on Friday that two people have been arrested in Pakistan following the death of Shylynn M. Dixon, of Lisbon, who died by suicide in March 2021 after being extorted online. Ms Dixon, a junior at Heuvelton Central School, had developed a relationship with someone online posing as someone else. She shared nude photographs with the user, who in turn attempted to blackmail her by threatening to post the photos on social media sites and share them with her friends. She died on March 3 in her home from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Ms Maneri, who isn't her biological mother but played a motherly role in Ms Dixon's life, spoke publicly about the teen's death after the family of Riley K. Basford came forward. Riley, who was a 15-year-old Potsdam student, died by suicide under almost identical online extortion circumstances just a few weeks after Ms Dixon in 2021.
Now, just over a year later, Ms Maneri was called by state police, who she said told her they wanted her to be the first to hear the news of the arrests. She said the fight that she and the Basfords undertook after their children's death was not for nothing.
"I told you all I would not stop," Ms Maneri said on Friday. "This is of course bittersweet, but I'm happy to see there's going to be justice."
State police say the Federal Investigative Agency of Pakistan arrested two individuals. One was identified as Sohail Khan of Rawalpindi, in the country's Punjab Province. The identity of the second subject is not known, according to state police.
Investigative work by state police Troop B, in conjunction with the FBI, determined that the Facebook account used to blackmail Ms Dixon originated from Pakistan. The FBI shared the case information with its legal attache in Pakistan, and it was then shared with law enforcement, leading to the arrests.
The FBI Washington Field Office on Thursday warned parents about an increase in sextortion of kids and teens, particularly by adults posing as young girls to manipulate boys through social media. Sextortion, as defined by the Cyberbullying Research Center, is "the threatened dissemination" of sexually natured images without consent. The threat is usually driven by the intent to obtain additional images, sexual acts or money.
"To make the victimization stop, children typically have to come forward to someone — normally a parent, teacher, caregiver or law enforcement. The embarrassment children feel from the activity they were forced to engage in is what typically prevents them from coming forward," the FBI warning says. "Sextortion offenders may have hundreds of victims around the world, so coming forward to help law enforcement identify the offender may prevent countless other incidents of sexual exploitation to that victim and others."
Wayne A. Jacobs, special agent in charge of the DC office's Criminal/Cyber Division, said the most effective way to disrupt sextortion crimes is through "awareness, education, and having important discussions with your children about their online safety."
"We recognize victims may feel embarrassed and thus hesitant to come forward and report these incidents, but we are strongly encouraging victims to notify us so that these individuals are held to account for their actions and, most importantly, prevented from harming another child," he said in a statement.
For resources and reporting avenues, visit wdt.me/sextortion.
Ms Maneri said on Friday that Riley Basford's parents, Mary C. Rodee and Darren E. Basford, deserve immense credit.
"If it wasn't for Riley's parents going public with it," she said, "it wouldn't have put me on this road, and we're still fighting."
She said she's still going to be working with youth groups and several organizations to continue to spread awareness.
"There are a lot of emotions going through right now," she said. "But we are so happy to know people are going to be safer because of this." - Watertown Daily Times
