Courts. (Credit: LevittownNow.com)
Jack Sullivan, a 20-year-old Kutztown University student and 2021 graduate of Abington Senior High School, died by suicide in January 2023 after being targeted in an online sextortion scheme.
The perpetrator, Imoleayo Samuel Aina, 27, who was living in Nigeria and posed as a young woman on Instagram under the name “Alice Dave,” was sentenced in federal court this week to six years in prison and five years of supervised release for cyberstalking, extortion, and related crimes, according to a report from The Philadelphia Inquirer.
One co-defendant, Samuel Olasunkanmi Abiodun, 25, was previously sentenced to five years for helping launder money from the scheme. A third co-defendant remains in custody in Nigeria.
The harassment began while Sullivan was at home in Abington, watching a movie with his father, and escalated quickly. The two pressured Sullivan for explicit photos and money. Within 19 hours of first contact, Sullivan, feeling trapped and overwhelmed, stepped in front of a train near the Jenkintown SEPTA station.
Sullivan’s parents, Kate and Jim, expressed gratitude for the prosecution, but said the sentence did not fully reflect the severity of Aina’s actions. They have also filed lawsuits against Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, arguing the platforms failed to protect users from predatory accounts.
“This has left a hole in our hearts,” Kate Sullivan said in court. “We miss Jack every day, every minute.” The family hopes the case raises awareness of sextortion, a growing online crime that has already claimed multiple young lives nationwide.
