A Nigerian man who was indicted in connection with the “sextortion” of a South Carolina teen who died by suicide has been extradited to the U.S. to face prosecution, the Justice Department said Monday.
Gavin Guffey, 17, died by suicide in 2022 after Hassanbunhussein Abolore Lawal allegedly extorted him using “compromising photos,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina announced.
According to a lawsuit filed in South Carolina in 2023, Lawal allegedly posed as a young woman and coerced Guffey into sending him sexually explicit content in 2022. Lawal then threatened to leak the content if Guffey didn’t send him money.
Lawal allegedly went on to send harassing messages to Guffey and some of his family members, threatening to leak the pictures and ruin their public reputation unless they sent him money, court documents state.
Guffey was the son of Rep. Brandon Guffey, R-SC. After his son’s death, Brandon Guffey went on to sponsor a bill known as which made sexual extortion a felony offense in the state, and an aggravated felony “if the victim is a minor, vulnerable adult, or if the victim suffers bodily injury or death directly related to the crime,” according to . McMaster signed the bill into law in August 2023.
Brandon Guffey did not immediately respond to an NBC News request for comment.
A grand jury returned an indictment for Lawal in Oct. 2023, per the U.S. attorney’s office. Lawal was charged with child exploitation resulting in death, child pornography distribution, coercion and enticement of a minor, cyberstalking resulting in death and interstate threat with intent to extort, per the indictment.
On Friday, FBI Columbia field office agents took custody of Lawal in Lagos, Nigeria, and conducted the extradition with help from Nigerian law enforcement. He was arraigned on Monday in federal court in Columbia, South Carolina.
“We will not allow predators who target our children to hide behind a keyboard or across the ocean,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Adair Ford Boroughs. “Today we honor Gavin’s life and continue our fight against sextortion by holding this defendant accountable.”
If found guilty, Lawal may spend life in prison. He also faces “mandatory minimum prison sentences on multiple counts,” including a mandatory 30-year sentence for the charge of child exploitation resulting in death, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Lawal may also be ordered to pay the Guffey family restitution for the losses they endured as a result of the scheme.
The investigation, arrest and extradition of Lawal were a partnership between law enforcement in the U.S. and Nigeria, and the ongoing case is part of Project Safe Childhood, “a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse,” per the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
