COLUMBIA, USA — On Monday, February 3, 2025, South Carolina State Representative Brandon Guffey sat in a Columbia courtroom in South Carolina, face-to-face with the man accused of driving his 17-year-old son, Gavin, to suicide through an online sextortion scheme.
It was the moment Guffey had waited more than two years to arrive.
The suspect, 24-year-old Hassanbunhussein Abolore Lawal, had just been extradited from Nigeria to the United States over the weekend—a rare move by Nigerian authorities that signaled the severity of the case.
“Rage is the best way to describe how I felt,” Guffey said after seeing Lawal in court. “I think I cracked molars just gritting my teeth so hard.”
Lawal kept his head bowed, never making eye contact with Guffey or his family.
A Sextortion Scheme That Turned Deadly
According to federal prosecutors, Lawal allegedly posed as a young woman on social media, sending explicit images to Gavin Guffey in an attempt to lure him into sending his own.
When Gavin complied, Lawal reportedly threatened to release the photos publicly unless the teenager paid him.
On July 27, 2022, Gavin took his own life in the family’s home in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Minutes before, he sent his loved ones a text message: “<3″—a symbol of love that his father now wears on a black T-shirt in his honour.
Lawal has pleaded not guilty to charges of child exploitation resulting in death, distribution of child sexual abuse material, coercion and enticement of a minor, cyberstalking, interstate threats with intent to extort, and iiding and abetting.
If convicted, Lawal faces a mandatory 30-year prison sentence, with the possibility of life behind bars.
The Long Road to Justice
The process of bringing Lawal to the U.S. was a legal battle in itself.
The FBI, Homeland Security, and South Carolina authorities worked with Nigerian officials to track him down.
Guffey admitted he never expected Nigeria to approve extradition, and when he received the call confirming it last week, it was a shock.
“It was a surprise,” Guffey said. “I knew that they had been working on the process, but extradition was not something that commonly happens with Nigeria.”
He also had to agree not to seek the death penalty, a requirement under Nigeria’s extradition laws, before the transfer could be finalized.
Extortion Continued After Gavin’s Death
The harassment didn’t stop after Gavin’s death.
Guffey revealed that two weeks after his son’s funeral, he received a private Instagram message: a laughing emoji—a chilling taunt from the scammer.
Soon after, he and other family members started receiving demands for money, with threats to release Gavin’s photos if they didn’t pay.
“They were trying to extort me and my younger son, too,” Guffey said.
Federal investigators took over the social media accounts, posing as family members to continue communicating with the suspect.
“This was a multifaceted operation. It wasn’t just one group. It started with our York County Sheriff’s Department, along with our South Carolina law enforcement division, tying in with FBI and Homeland Security,” Guffey said.
Through continued online interactions, law enforcement was able to track Lawal to Nigeria, leading to his arrest.
Sextortion: A Growing Threat to Teens
The FBI has warned that sextortion schemes targeting young boys are on the rise, often leading to devastating mental health consequences.
Guffey has since turned his grief into advocacy, successfully championing “Gavin’s Law”, which was signed in 2023 and made sextortion of minors an aggravated felony in South Carolina.
The law also mandates education programs in schools, teaching students how to recognize and avoid online predators.
“Awareness really is 90% of the battle,” Guffey said.
“We can talk until we are blue in the face, but I don’t care what type of parent you are—it’s very difficult to protect your children from everything.”
Taking on Social Media Giants
Beyond the criminal case, Guffey is suing Meta, the parent company of Instagram, for wrongful death and negligence, arguing that the platform does not do enough to protect children from predators.
Meta has responded by pointing to its existing safety tools, but the case remains ongoing.
Meanwhile, Guffey is partnering with Cyber Dive, a tech company that has developed a smartphone with built-in safeguards.
The phone’s nudity detection feature disables the camera if explicit content is detected and provides real-time updates for parents monitoring their child’s activity.
“No Other Parent Should Go Through This”
Despite his efforts, Guffey acknowledges that his anger remains. He has not found forgiveness, even as he seeks to protect other children.
“I served in the house with a representative who lost his mother and sister in the Dylann Roof shootings down in Charleston. And those families were able to look at Dylann Roof and say, ‘we forgive you,’” Guffey said.
“I want to ask them, ‘how do you have forgiveness in your heart?’ Because I just don’t have it. I have anger and vengeance. And every time I see my family’s pain over this, it just infuriates me more.”
Still, Guffey says his mission is clear.
“My mission in life, regardless of politics or anything else, is to protect kids until the day that I die.”
