South Carolina House of Representatives Brandon Guffey gave strong testimony at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on child safety in the digital age Wednesday, February 19.
Guffey lost his teenage son Gavin in a 24-year-old Hassanbunhussein Abolore Lawal, 24, of Osun State, Nigeria.
Guffey narrates Lawal as a girl and has blackmailed his son in the United States from Lagos, Nigeria until his son took his life.
Recall that after the sexual predator blackmailed him online, Brandon Guffey’s 17-year-old son Gavin d!
The father and Republican member of the South Carolina House of Representatives took action quickly next year and helped the FBI track the perpetrator to his location in Nigeria.
Guffeey also pioneered the passage of Gavin’s law, a statewide measure that criminalizes extortion of minors, rather than S£XALLIAL PRAKITIC PHOTACE or video.
Guffey and four others testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday the need for legislative action on protecting children.
Experts and advocates say online abuse has continued to increase in recent years, and Congress has repeatedly failed to pass any legislation. Witnesses called on Congress to pass laws to help families and law enforcement protect children from online exploitation.
“Protecting youth from online dangers and responsible large tech companies is now my life’s mission,” Guffey told the committee. He also issued a stark warning that “large technology is the big tobacco of this generation.”
In his testimony, a distinctly emotional Gufei tells the story of his son’s night, his own life and consequences.
A scammer convinces Gavin to turn on “Vanish Mode” and send clear photos in Instagram chat. “Vanishing Mode” allows messages to disappear after being received.
The scammer then threatened to release the photos unless he received the money from Gavin, who sent $25 to the online predator, saying it was all in his account. That’s not enough for the scammers, who continue to ask for more money.
Sadly, Gavin took his life.
However, the Predator did not do it with the Gufi family. The state legislator told the committee that the liar continued to harass himself, his son and his teenage cousin. Guffey said it was because Meta deleted the account that tortured his son Gavin and recorded the rest of the fraudsters on it.
In a speech to the Senate, Gufi said: “Two weeks ago, the predator with Gavin was recently extradited to the United States from Lagos, Nigeria.
“The predator not only attacked my 17-year-old son Gavin, but continued to blackmail my 16-year-old son, my 14-year-old cousin, and then myself.
“One of the messages I received, ‘Did I tell you your son beg for his life?'”
Hassanbunhussein Abolore Lawal, 24, of Osan State, Nigeria, was indicted by a grand jury in October 2023 and has been extradited from Nigeria to the United States and faces prosecution for South Carolina minor, resulting in one minor. victim’s de@th.
Hassanbunhussein Abolore Lawal faces the possibility of life imprisonment.
Within a few months of taking office, Gufei was able to pass the law with his son’s name. Gavin’s law makes S£Xtortion a felony of ransoming someone using explicit images or videos. If the victim is a minor, or if there are other mitigation conditions, the offence can be escalated to a serious felony, which is outlined in the law. Additionally, Gavin’s law requires South Carolina schools to teach secondary dangers to students.
“There is now teaching throughout the state and every child has at least some awareness, so they are not as lonely as my son had that night,” Guffey told the Senate committee on Wednesday.
“There is now teaching throughout the state and every child has at least some awareness, so they are not as lonely as my son had that night,” Guffey told the Senate committee on Wednesday.
Guffey has no confidence in Big Tech’s ability to reform.
He recalls attending a January 2024 hearing where Mark Zuckerberg provided what he called a “forced, sad apology.”
Guffey asked lawmakers to take action against Section 230, which he believes will “become one of the greatest disasters.”
Article 230 of the Model Communications Act of 1996 distinguishes large-scale technology platforms from platforms that will be considered “publishers”. This prevents users from publishing legal liability online platforms.
Legislators on both sides of the aisle discussed the need for legislation to create new industry standards for protecting American children.
Guffey advocates for federal legislation, but he also calls for a cultural change.
“I believe that in this country we lose grace and we often kick people because of the mistakes they make, and we tell our children, ‘Everything you do online will always be with you.” Well , imagine if you just spent the darkest moments and posted it online,” Guffey told the committee.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) said it received more than 26,710 financial sales reports in 2023. NCMEC said it has seen “an overwhelming increase in decomposition reports for children and adolescents”. The center advises parents to talk to their children about the dangers of breakdown, but also lets them know that they need help rather than paying immediately or complying with the blackmailer.
Watch Guffey speak in the video below.
