In a bedroom full of his favourite things, William Doiron's character emanated -- a sixteen-year-old from Saint-Leolin, New Brunswick who loved hockey, refereeing and welding.
He was an aspiring carpenter and spent his time helping family of neighbours with snow removal.
"William was full of energy. He was everywhere, he was very kind," said his mother Stéphanie Thériault.
About a year and half has passed since the teenager's sudden death, but his family’s pain has not.
William died by suicide in late October 2022, three days after someone posted sexually explicit photos of him on Instagram.
His mother said a police investigation revealed that William thought he was talking with a girl he met on Snapchat, but the teen was actually targeted by criminals.
"She was sending him pictures, so she asked him to send pictures back. So he sent them and after that they tell him if you don't pay us we’re going to release the picture," she said. “They released them on Instagram”
William didn’t tell anyone.
Three days after the Instagram post, William died.
“People make them believe their life is over,” his mother said. “They know how to brainwash them.”
The criminals didn’t stop at William either. Several other teenagers were targeted.
“It happened to some of my friends too but they only talked about it after William,” said Cloé Doiron, William’s sister.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) say youth in Canada are being targeted at an alarming rate.
In New Brunswick alone, RCMP have received 66 reports of sextortion since 2023 and about a third of those incidents occurred since January.
The Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P) receives about ten sextortion reports per day, typically from youth and their families.
“We know that’s the tip of the iceberg,” said Signy Arnason, the Associate Executive Director at C3P. “We absolutely have a public safety crisis on our hands.”
Sextortion, an online form of blackmail, happens when offenders pose as someone else to receive explicit photos or videos and once they have them, they’ll threaten the victim to share the material unless they send money.
“These offenders are very good at what they do and use many techniques to threaten the victim,” RCMP said in a press release in early February.
The Online Harms Bill tabled earlier this week in Ottawa includes a commission that could force tech platforms like Instagram and Facebook to remove photos that sexually victimizes a child within 24 hours– a move the Canadian Centre for Child Protection supports.
“There’s the obligation to create a digital safety plan and make that publicly available. All of these things are really important in terms of putting guardrails around what tech platforms are required to do,” said Arnason.
Sextortion happens virtually. The suffering and shame is often kept private. William’s sister is urging teenagers to talk to their parents or someone else they trust.
“If there’s something wrong, talk about it. They’re not going to be mad at you or anything. They’re just going to want to help you,” Cloé said.
“We miss a big part of our family but we don’t want that to happen to anybody else,” his mother said.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, here are some resources that are available.
Suicide Crisis Helpline (988)
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (1 800 463-2338)
Crisis Services Canada (1-833-456-4566 or text 45645)
Kids Help Phone (1-800-668-6868)
If you need immediate assistance, call 911 or go to the nearest hospital.
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