South Carolina father turned his son's sextortion death into state law
17-year-old Gavin Guffey killed himself after an Instagram account demanded money over intimate photos, Gavin's Law made sextortion a felony and later reforms ban autoplay and infinite scroll for under-16s
Images
‘He’d just got comfortable in who he was’ … Brandon Guffey with a portrait of his son Gavin. Photograph: Mike Belleme
theguardian.com
Guffey with Gavin. Photograph: Courtesy of Brandon Guffey
theguardian.com
Guffey at a press conference in Washington DC in February 2026. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images
theguardian.com
Guffey at a committe hearing for online child sexual exploitation. Photograph: MediaPunch Inc/Alamy Stock Photo/Alamy Live News
Alamy Live News
Guffey: ‘I would love to see no social media for any minor.’ Photograph: Mike Belleme
theguardian.com
On a July night in 2022, 17-year-old Gavin Guffey was gaming in his bedroom in Rock Hill, South Carolina, headset on, talking with friends. He was on summer break before starting college and wanted to become an art teacher. An account named BellaJanet28 — one that shared friends with Gavin and presented as a volleyball player from a local college — sent him a friend request on Instagram.
A game of truth or dare followed. It led to intimate photos. Then came the demand: money, or the images would be sent to all his contacts.
Gavin's father, Brandon Guffey, had won the Republican ticket for the state House of Representatives weeks earlier, with the election three months away. He was out at a local event that night and returned just before midnight. Around 1.30am he saw Gavin on the landing of the house. He believes their last exchange was "Goodnight, buddy. I love you," answered with "I'll see you in the morning" — though he says he will never know for certain. Moments after, he heard a crash from the bathroom and found his son on the floor.
The scheme required almost nothing: an identity made credible by shared friends, a contact list to threaten, and a demand for money.
A year after Gavin's death, Gavin's Law passed in South Carolina. Sextortion became a felony, and education about it became mandatory in every school in the state. Last year his father, now a state representative, won broader reforms: social media companies must activate safety features whenever a user in the state is under 16, with parental permission required for those accounts and direct marketing to children, infinite scroll and automatic video playback prohibited. In February 2026 he appeared at a press conference in Washington DC, four years into a campaign to make the platforms safeguard young users.
"I often say Gavin was living his best life at that point," Guffey told the Guardian. "He'd just got comfortable in who he was. He wasn't trying to 'fit in' or please anyone."
Four years on, Brandon Guffey has never been able to bring himself to read the conversation between his son and BellaJanet28.