A Nigerian man will face federal prosecution for sextortion of a Mississippi teenager, leading to the 16-year-old’s death by suicide.
On Friday, Adebola Festus Adekunle, 26, of Lagos, Nigeria, appeared in federal court in Oxford.
He is charged with a number of crimes, including the sexual exploitation that resulted in the death of Walker Montgomery of Starkville and production of child sexual abuse material.
In 2022, Walker died by suicide after Adekunle, allegedly posing as another person, convinced the teenager in an Instagram message to open a video chat and have a sexual encounter, not knowing it was recorded, said Brian Montomgery, the teen’s father in a campaign video against sextortion.
Later, Adekunle contacted Walker again and allegedly demanded $1,000 to prevent the video from being sent to friends and family. The teen said he didn’t have the money and begged for the video not to be released. By the early morning, he was dead.
“Walker Montgomery should be here with us today. He should be moving into his dormitory, meeting up with friends, and running to class. That he is not is a tragedy,” Attorney General Lynn Fitch said in a Friday statement.
“This trial cannot bring back Walker, and the Montgomery Family will always hurt. But I hope that today they get some closure, and some assurances that Walker will get justice.”
The FBI arrested Adekunle in Nigeria in August 2023 as part of a wider operation to arrest sexual extortionists targeting minors in the United States. He was extradited to the U.S. Thursday.
He faces up to a life sentence. The charge of child exploitation resulting in death alone carries a mandatory 30-year sentence.
“Sextortion is a serious crime with devastating consequences. Its impact on victims and their families is profound and long‑lasting,” Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Jackson Field Office Robert Eikhoff said in a Friday statement. “The extradition of Adekunle sends a clear and unmistakable message: crossing state lines does not erase criminal charges, and international borders do not shield individuals from accountability.”
The FBI says it has seen an increase in financial sextortion cases targeting minors.
U.S. Attorney Scott Leary gave credit to state, federal and international partners, including Nigeria’s attorney general and the minister of justice in working on the case.
In 2021, Mississippi criminalized revenge porn. A first offense is a misdemeanor that carries six months in jail or a $1,000 fine. A second offense is a felony punishable with a year in jail or a $2,000 fine.
To remember Walker and address future crimes, the Mississippi Legislature passed “Walker’s Law” making sextortion a criminal offense punishable by up to five years in prison for a first offense and up to 15 for a third or subsequent offense.
In addition, Gov. Tate Reeves signed the “Walker Montgomery Protecting Children Online Act,” which requires age verification on social media platforms. Months after its passage, industry trade group NetChoice challenged the law’s constitutionality, and a federal judge issued an injunction blocking its enforcement. The state appealed to a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
When her office defended the law, Fitch told the judges that age verification could help protect young people from “sexual abuse, trafficking, physical violence, sextortion and more,” activities that the First Amendment does not protect.
Last year, the federal appeals court allowed the age verification law to take effect.
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