SOUTH CAROLINA (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Right now, South Carolina is the only state in the country to not have a revenge porn law. It comes after Massachusetts passed a law last week criminalizing the act of sharing intimate images without consent.
“We have to address the fact that we are the only state in the United States without a revenge porn law,” said South Carolina state house Rep. Brandon Guffey.
Two years ago, Rep. Guffey’s 17-year-old son shot and killed himself. While searching for answers as to why, the South Carolina lawmaker started receiving messages on Instagram from someone demanding money in exchange for nude pictures of his late son. The family soon discovered Gavin was a victim of sextortion.
“As a father, it’s our job to protect our families,” Guffey told NewsNation affiliate WJZY. “Not only did I let my son down by not being there, but I feel like I let my wife down and my other kid. I let my family down. That doesn’t mean that I think I was a horrible father, but I would be wrong if I can’t look back and say, ‘what could I have done better?’”
Since then, Guffey has filed a lawsuit against Meta, accusing the social media company of not doing more to protect children from online predators. He also created Gavin’s Law, which makes sexual extortion, including the blackmailing that comes with it, a felony offense. He says it still runs rampant in South Carolina’s backyard.
“I deal with a lot, I mean, hundreds and hundreds, and I’m not exaggerating that, of sextortion cases consistently,” Guffey said. “I dealt with three in one day last week just within the Charlotte metro area.”
While Gavin’s Law holds these predators accountable, Guffey says it doesn’t go far enough, and unfortunately, South Carolina legislation doesn’t move fast enough.
“Too often, we are looking at things and saying, ‘how did this state do this?’” he said.
Bills have been introduced, but none have made it across the finish line. Guffey would like to see something on the books and make adjustments as needed.
“We could couple it in so many different ways just to stop it, but ultimately, we get caught up in semantics,” said Guffey.