24-year-old faces life jail over American teenager’s death
A 24-year-old Nigerian man, Hassan Lawal, has been extradited from Osun State, Nigeria, to South Carolina, United States of America, to face five counts after a sextortion led to the death of a teenager.
Lawal is looking at life in jail and mandatory prison sentences on multiple counts which include child exploitation resulting in death.
This was disclosed in a press release by the US Attorney’s Office of the District of South Carolina on Monday.
Lawal allegedly posed as a damsel on social media and coerced a 17-year-old American, Gavin Guffey, into sending compromising pictures of himself.
The suspect subsequently sent messages to Guffey, threatening to leak the photos and damage his reputation unless he sent him money.
After extorting money from him, the Nigerian allegedly started doing the same to the teen’s family members, leading to frustration which made the boy to commit suicide in July 2022.
According to the Department of Justice, “The five-count federal indictment charges against Lawal are child exploitation resulting in death, the production and distribution of child sexual abuse material, coercion and enticement of a minor, cyberstalking resulting in death, interstate threats with intent to extort, and aiding/abetting.”
The document revealed that the indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in South Carolina in October 2023.
Following extradition proceedings on January 24, 2025, agents with the FBI Columbia Field Office took custody of Lawal in Lagos.
