He Was Just 17 When Sextortion Drove Him to Suicide — Now Police Say They’ve Found His Blackmailers

• A 17-year-old from California, Ryan Last, died by suicide in 2022 after being extorted by someone posing as a woman online
• An international investigation led to the arrest of four men in Côte d’Ivoire and a U.S.-based accomplice who was later convicted
• Due to Côte d’Ivoire’s extradition laws, the suspects will be prosecuted locally under cybercrime statutes, with the case still under investigation by multiple U.S. and international agencies

Four men in Côte d’Ivoire have been arrested in connection with an international “sextortion” scheme that targeted minors, including a 17-year-old from the San Francisco Bay area who died by suicide. 

The February 2022 death of Ryan Last, a 17-year-old high school senior from San Jose, Calif., who died by suicide, prompted an international investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement. 

Last was exchanging messages with someone he believed was a 20-year-old woman who sent him explicit photos. According to prosecutors, the teenager reciprocated by sending back photos of himself — only to be hit with a blackmail demand of $150 to prevent the images from being disseminated online.

Law enforcement identified the person he was speaking with as Alfred Kassi, DOJ said in a statement.  

The teenager was terrified the photos would be exposed, so he took his own life. Prosecutors say that upon Kassi’s arrest, he still had the explicit photos of Last on his phone. 

“They, in other words, catfished my son and gained his trust through flirting and showing interest,” Pauline Stuart, the 17-year-old’s mother, said in a 2022 video posted by the San Jose Police Department on Facebook. 

“People can pretend to be anyone. The fact that he was told they would send out or post the pictures on social media had a devastating effect on Ryan. He chose to end his life, rather than have the pictures distributed on social media. He believed his reputation would be destroyed and he was terrified of what his friends and family would think,” Stuart added. 

The investigation found several other accomplices who allegedly helped Kassi move the money sent by Last. Ivorian law enforcement arrested Oumarou Ouedraogo, Moussa Diaby and Oumar Cisse. A U.S.-based accomplice, Johnathan Kassi, was convicted in 2023 by a California State Court and sentenced to 18 months in jail, the statement said.

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The government of Côte d’Ivoire does not extradite its citizens, so Alfred Kassi, Ouedraogo, Diaby and Cisse will be prosecuted in their own country under Ivorian cybercrime statutes, per the statement. 

The case remains under investigation by the FBI, the San Jose Police Department, the U.S. Embassy in Abidjan, Meta, and the government of Côte d’Ivoire.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.