Brave warning by teenage sextortion victim's parents deserves a few minutes of everyone's time
Murray Dowey was only 16 when he killed himself while being targeted by sextortion criminals
The death of a child is the hardest thing for any parent to bear, let alone speak about in public. However, the parents of Murray Dowey, 16, from Dunblane, who took his life after becoming a victim of sextortion, are doing just that in order to warn others about the online dangers that young people can face.
Speaking to the BBC, his parents, Ros and Mark Dowey, urged young people to seek help if they found themselves in a similar situation. “Everything in life passes. There’s nothing that is worth taking your own life for,” Ros Dowey said. “So if something happens to you... go and get somebody you trust and tell them it’s happened, and don’t be ashamed at what you’ve done.”
There have always been evil people willing to do almost anything for money. The difference now is that these people are able to target young people on social media. Until social media companies take adequate action, parents should honour the bravery of the Doweys’ decision to speak out by talking to their children and keeping them close.