Two years after 17-year-old Ryan Last of San Jose took his own life, authorities have arrested four men in Côte d’Ivoire for their alleged roles in an international sextortion scheme that targeted thousands, including minors.

Ryan Last, a senior at Ann Sobrato High School, died by suicide in February 2022 after being blackmailed online. He had communicated with someone he believed was a young woman, who sent him explicit images and encouraged him to reciprocate. Once he did, the scammer demanded $5,000, threatening to release the images publicly. After Ryan paid $150, the demands continued. Hours later, he ended his life.

“His note apologized for not being smarter,” Ryan’s mother Pauline Stuart told ABC7. “He believed in somebody and that devastates me that he felt that he wasn’t smart because somebody took advantage of him.”

According to KRON4, the U.S. Department of Justice identified Alfred Kassi, an Ivorian national, as the main perpetrator. He was arrested on April 29 by local authorities, who found the sextortion messages to Ryan still on his phone. Côte d’Ivoire does not extradite its citizens, so Kassi and three alleged accomplices—Oumarou Ouedraogo, Moussa Diaby, and Oumar Cisse—will be prosecuted under Ivorian cybercrime laws.

Ouedraogo is accused of laundering money extorted from Ryan. Diaby and Cisse reportedly admitted to their own involvement in sexual extortion. A fifth man, Jonathan Kassi (unrelated to Alfred), was arrested in California in 2022 and later sentenced to 18 months in jail for his role in the broader scheme.

The investigation involved the FBI, San Jose Police Department, U.S. Embassy in Abidjan, and Meta, which the DOJ said provided critical information leading to the arrests.

Stuart, who had parental controls set on her son’s electronics, has urged parents to speak with their children about the dangers of online scams: “Make them understand that not everybody that reaches out to them is who they say they are.”

Image: Julian Christ/Unsplash