South Carolina man charged in sextortion scheme linked to Michigan victim’s death

A South Carolina man has been charged in connection with a sextortion scheme that allegedly led a Michigan resident to commit suicide, federal officials announced Wednesday.

Glenn Daeward Boyd, 35, of Kershaw, South Carolina, was charged in a seven-count indictment, alleging he engaged in attempted extortion, stalking, and 5 counts of wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan said in a press release.

Boyd allegedly sent a nude image to a Kent County resident while posing as an 18-year-old woman on a dating site between Aug. 2-4, 2023, according to the statement.

While posing as the woman, Boyd told the resident he was actually 15 and began posing as the youth’s grandparents, threatening to report him as a pedophile unless he sent money, authorities said.

Boyd then posted allegations the user was a pedophile alongside a Facebook profile on Aug. 4, according to the indictment.

“He is a pedophile I have all the evidence if anyone wants to see it,” Boyd wrote in a Facebook post, the filing stated.

The Michigan resident died by suicide that day, according to the indictment.

“Nationally and here in Michigan we have seen a startling increase in the number of sextortion crimes – like we have alleged here – that result in the victim’s death,” U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said in the statement. “We are fully committed to holding perpetrators of these crimes accountable. At the same time, I strongly urge everyone who carries a device or is active online to remain aware that criminals constantly troll the internet and social media, to not assume people are who they say they are, and to know that if you make a mistake, law enforcement is eager and ready to help.”

The charges against Boyd come after two Nigerian men recently pleaded guilty in connection with a similar scheme that exploited teens in Michigan and other U.S. states.

Authorities said Jordan DeMay, a 17-year-old from Marquette, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in March 2022 after being targeted in the scheme.