Sextortion: The Hidden Pandemic is an expose into the world of online grooming and sextortion that is a present-day reality for 1 in 7 children online. By unsealing the HSI case of a top gun pilot with hundreds of victims, and interviewing survivors and their parents, this true-crime piece opens the eyes of the viewers as to how and why this cyber-crime against children is becoming a pandemic.
Through partnerships with the Department of Justice and Homeland Security, the filmmakers had unrestricted access to government documents for an international sextortion case of a Top Gun pilot with hundreds of victims, unsealed for this film for the very first time. By interviewing survivors and their parents, this true crime piece exposes this fastest-growing crime against children, the tactics of online predators, and the voices of parents and law enforcement poised to stop online child exploitation in its tracks. Through interviews with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), “Sextortion: The Hidden Pandemic” shows the scale of online enticement and exploitation of children– and what we can do to stop it. The filmmakers created an online educational curriculum in partnership with NCMEC, which is available at https://www.missingkids.org/netsmartz. This curriculum will be available to educators, parents, federal agents and police departments, and is age-appropriate for middle and high school students.
Discussing the production Iain Drennan, Executive Director of We Protect Global Alliance said ‘”Sextortion: the Hidden Pandemic powerfully brings to life the human impact of this truly global crime. It is required viewing for anyone who wants to ensure children are able to explore and enjoy the digital world safely. Through providing a space for both those working to bring abusers to justice and survivors of abuse to share their incredible stories, it offers a compelling argument for increased action and investment in this crucial area.”
The film is directed by Siberian-born filmmaker, Maria Peek and produced by her husband Stephen. After pivoting away from TV spots and limited series, she directed her first feature documentary, “I Dream on Dance”, in 2017, which was well received by critics and the dance community alike. “I Dream of Dance” was acquired as premium content for Netflix in 2018.
She states, “Sextortion: The Hidden Pandemic” is definitely the hardest documentary I have ever made. The extremely disturbing yet timely subject matter, combined with the challenges of filming during the pandemic made making this film almost an impossible task. We had to adjust, improvise, and rely on court drawings and animation when filming just was not possible.
Through our partnerships with the Department of Justice and Homeland Security, our team had unique unrestricted access to all government documents for an international sextortion case unsealed for this film for the very first time. The interviews with prosecutors, law enforcement officials, and survivors largely informed my filmmaking approach.
The written stories of survivors, obtained in person and from the court documents, have opened my eyes to the severity and cruelty of this crime, especially the psychological long-term effects on the children and their futures. It is my hope that in the same way, the eyes of the viewers will be opened – and awareness, education, and civil action will become the result of this film. We simply cannot allow this to go on. Unfortunately, the rates of sextortion across the world are skyrocketing, and many children are getting hurt by simply being online. The thought of helping so many has kept us going, and I am extremely thankful for our small filmmaking team, and all our partners who made this film possible.
Source and images provided by Cinematic Red
About Author
