My 14-year-old son was the victim of a cruel 35-minute chat with a 'girl' he met online ... it turned out to be a 'sextortion' plot which drove him to suicide
Morgan Moore, from El Dorado, Kansas, says her son Caleb Moore, 14, was 'flirting' with a person he believed was a 14-year-old girl on TikTok, before the pair moved the conversation to Snapchat.
After the 'girl' allegedly sent him compromising photos of herself, Caleb sent over similar photos in return.
Morgan, 33, said 'she' then began to threaten Caleb and demanded he stump up a large amount of cash or they would leak his photos.
In that moment Morgan believes her son felt like he had nowhere to turn and he shot himself.
Morgan claimed Caleb's conversation with the sinister stranger saw her son's 'happiness and hope destroyed in 35 minutes'.
Following his death, the 33-year-old claimed TikTok and Snapchat should have more effective monitoring on their platform to stop fraudulent accounts like this existing.
The mother-of-five is now bravely sharing Caleb's tragic story to encourage parents to have 'constant' open conversations with their children to combat scams online and avoid the same thing happening to others.
TikTok said that their platform does not allow messaging for those aged under 16 however El Dorado Police Department said that the conversation began on TikTok before moving to another platform on which the images were sent.
It is unclear if Caleb had used his correct age to access the platform.
Snapchat said they offer 'strong safety settings' for Snapchat users aged between 13-17 and have a Family Safety Hub on their website designed to help families navigate Snapchat safely and confidently.
Morgan, a carer, said: 'I want his death to have as much meaning as his life did, which was a lot. He is very, very missed and very loved.
'I never thought this would happen to him or us. I found out about it right after Caleb had fired the gun because his father called me.
'When I got there Caleb was still alive and breathing but they were unable to resuscitate him so they stopped trying as nothing was working.
'He passed away in the house and it was very difficult because I wanted to be with him but they wouldn't let me go inside as they didn't want me to see anything.
'I was hysterical and screaming and begging them to not give up on my boy and let me go to him. I was inconsolable.
'It was the worst moment of my life. At this point, we didn't know why Caleb had shot himself. It didn't make sense.
'It was probably the next day when the police called and wanted to show me something on his phone.
'That is when they had gone through his TikTok messages and showed me the progression. It had stolen my boy's happiness and hope in a 35-minute span.
'It was someone posing as a girl his age and they started flirting and she sent him photos and then 'she' asked him to send pictures.
'He sent the photos and these were of a compromising nature. As soon as he sent them, the conversation switched.
'This person began demanding money and making threats that if he didn't send over the money they were going to expose his photos and his family and friends would be ashamed of him.
'They made him feel like his life was over as he had made this mistake.'
Morgan revealed her son had been using TikTok for about a year and said they had had open conversations about internet safety.
Before shooting himself, she claimed Caleb even sent a photo of the gun to the TikTok user to try and stop the threats but it didn't help.
Morgan said: 'These people intentionally manipulate what a 14-year-old boy would be vulnerable about - their sexuality, the family's wellbeing and social status.
'I don't think Caleb thought that we wouldn't help him, I think he felt like we wouldn't be able to help him or fix it and it was going to be his fault and none of these things are true.
'The most devastating loss I can imagine is losing one of your kids and now I'm in that situation and it was all so avoidable.
'I know Caleb had pleaded with the person to not send the pictures out. He had even sent a photo of the gun to them and they still didn't stop and so he did use it.
'It's so heartless and anonymous. The police are doing what they can but the reality of them tracking down the individual is really low.
'It's incredibly overwhelming because even though Caleb was the most loved kid and happy, funny and responsible on these platforms and this still happened to him.
'I don't have any idea how these people found my son and I'm guessing TikTok doesn't either.
'I think there should be more accountability or monitoring [on TikTok]. There has to be something that they can do.'
Caleb's funeral took place on June 16 and Morgan says around 300 people turned up to celebrate his life.
She is now using her son's tragic death to urge other children to tell a responsible adult if they feel they are in danger online.
Morgan said: 'Caleb was a pretty popular kid, really funny and goofy and made people laugh a lot.
'He was mild-mannered so got along with everybody. He loves sports and played football, basketball and was really good at wrestling.
'I don't know how to stress enough to children to tell someone your parents about it or another trusted adult.
'You just have to tell someone because they purposely make it seem like they have so much more power than they do.
'You need to battle the false communication between the scammer and your child with open conversation with you and your child.'
El Dorado Police Department confirmed that the conversation began on TikTok before moving to another platform on which the images were sent.
TikTok revealed they are deeply committed to making their platform a safe and positive experience for teens.
The social media platform claims that teens using TikTok who are aged 16 do not have access to direct messaging.
Adults using the platform are also unable to send message requests to teens and no one in the US can send off-platform imagery in DMs.
The platform said that when people receive a message from someone for the first time, they are prompted to mark the conversation as safe or report the sender.
Messaging on TikTok is not end-to-end encrypted, which the social media giant claims makes their platform undesirable for those who would to attempt to share illegal material.
On their website, Snapchat said they offer extra protection to teens to help prevent unwanted contact from strangers.
This includes strong safety settings for Snapchat users aged between 13-17, which means their accounts are private by default that also includes their friends lists.
Due to this, they state that users of this age can only communicate with mutually accepted friends or those whose numbers they have already saved to their contacts.
Snapchat also has a Family Safety Hub on their website which is intentionally designed to help families navigate Snapchat safely and confidently.
An El Dorado Police Department spokesman said: 'Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Moore family during this difficult time.
'We are amazed at the incredible strength and courage that this family has shown through the tragedy that they have suffered.
'We strongly support the fact that the family has made it a priority to share this story with others in an effort to protect the lives of other children and we intend to support this family in every way possible.'
Following his death, a GoFundMe page was set up to help support Caleb's family at this difficult time.
After funeral costs his parents are going to use the extra funds to set up a scholarship fund for the local athletics team.
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