Daniel Lints, 17, took his own life — but his father says his son was murdered..His father is right..Daniel was the victim of a 'sextortion' plot, a rapidly spreading global cancer..The soulless predators who targeted Daniel are still out there somewhere — faceless, unidentified filth who won’t hesitate to come after your kids on social media..These sophisticated organized crime rings create fake profiles and use Snapchat or Instagram to lure naive, hormone-driven, mostly teenage boys into a trap..Good kids like Daniel, from Pilot Mound MB located 180 kms southwest of Winnipeg, who get conned by evil pros prowling social media, pay dearly for making a mistake..In February Daniel accepted a message request on Snapchat supposedly from an attractive female who convinced him to send an explicit sexual image..Within minutes there was a blackmail attempt, a threat to make the image go viral..Three hours later Daniel committed suicide..“That’s right. Fast. He must have been so distraught, embarrassed,” a soft-spoken Derek Lints told the Western Standard. “I feel like he was murdered.”.A young life ended..A family shattered..A father who must try to get through the rest of his life with the memory of finding his eldest child’s lifeless body. The pain of that is still too raw for him to talk about..Daniel’s mother Jill is broken but “she does her best.”.His two little sisters lost a brother who was so very “good” to them..The chances of discovering whoever terrorized Daniel may be slim, but this courageous family is fighting back..For your kids..“We wouldn’t be able to live with ourselves if we thought we hadn’t done what we could to not let this happen to other kids and families,” the grieving father told the Western Standard..In those last few dark hours, Daniel apparently lost sight of all the good in him, all he accomplished, all who loved him..It was all overshadowed by communications he had with the predators..“I don’t know all the details. The transcripts are with the child exploitation people,” said Lints..Family and friends now cling to memories of the person Daniel was..“He was a typical teenager. He was good in school, worked hard in school, had lots of friends, was friends with most everybody, had sports friends, non-sports friends.”.“A nice person too. He was good with his sisters.”.“He’d visit his grandmas. They’d play marbles and cards. He’d help them with chores, mow the grass.”.He played hockey and loved to ski..“He was witty, had a good sense of humour, sarcastic like me. He was kind of a serious guy too. He took himself seriously.”.Daniel saved up for a car and researched for “days and days” before finally buying one..“He played online games with his friends, talked online with his friends, did his schoolwork online.”.Then he accepted a message online that led to tragedy..“Tell parents this can happen fast, even if you think you have a good a relationship with your kids.”.“Have a conversation with your child. You’ve got to get to them before it happens. Try to make kids aware that this happens so they don’t get into a situation.”.“If they happen to get into this situation, none of the resources, school counsellors, a good relationship with your child, a safe adult they can talk to — when they get into this space none of that matters after that moment.”.“Daniel couldn’t think straight, couldn’t think about calling anybody to get help. He had one thing on his mind because he was so distraught.”.Lints wants parents to tell their kids that if they do make a mistake, if they get tricked, they needn’t suffer in fear or shame alone..“Just let them know it’s OK to go to somebody about it. That’s the big thing. Let them know that it’s OK to come to you.”.After they lost Daniel, the Lints learned about a dark, thriving underworld they never knew existed..“This happens quite often is what we’ve come to realize. You don’t really hear of it that much because a lot of kids that it’s happened to, it’s a big embarrassment to them.”.“They feel guilty. That’s hard on a teenager. Of course, they don’t come forward.”.“We need a way to fight back against people that did this.”.Finding them is the challenge..“Typically, police try to trace these accounts back to wherever the origin is. Quite frankly, there’s not a lot of hope.”.“Only a handful of countries have some kind of relationship with Canada where they can extradite the person when they find out who it is.”.“More likely than not it probably originated in Nigeria, or somewhere like that. Once they find out if it originated from there, it’s pretty much dropped right there.”.Law enforcement worldwide is sounding the alarms about youth falling victim to sextortion..The FBI, grappling with a huge increase in cases, warns sextortion “can start on any site, app, or game.”.Public Safety Canada declared online child exploitation is one of today’s most disturbing safety issues..Earlier this month, Calgary police said the 48 reports they’ve received so far this year are likely a fraction of victims reported..In May, Cybertip, Canada’s national tip time for child sexual abuse, received 75 reports, up from an average of 55 a month, according to the Canadian Press..So many young lives tormented, even destroyed, by global predators whose claws reach small places like Pilot Mound, population just over 600. For what?.“Maybe a couple hundred bucks,” said Lints.
