Ep 788 ｜ The 'Sextortion' Scheme that Killed His Son ｜ Guest： Brian Montgomery
Episode Stats
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Summary
On December 1st, 2022, 17-year-old Walker Montgomery was a young boy that had everything going for him until he died by suicide. And now, his dad, Brian Montgomery, is trying to prevent this tragedy from happening to other teens. Brian is here today to share his tragic but extremely important story and to help parents understand the signs to look for and how they can possibly prevent this from happen to their own families.
Transcript
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Walker Montgomery was a 17-year-old boy that had everything going for him until he died
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by suicide on December 1st, 2022, after falling victim to a sextortion scheme on Instagram.
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And now his dad, Brian Montgomery, is trying to prevent this tragedy from happening to
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And so Brian is here today to share his tragic but extremely important story and to help
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parents understand the signs to look for and how they can possibly prevent this from happening
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This episode is brought to you by our friends at Good Ranchers.
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Brian, thanks so much for taking the time to join us.
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I think I ran across your story on FoxNews.com and I thought, wow, my audience, which is
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mostly made up of moms, and there are some dads out there too, they need to know that
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Tell me about your son, Walker, and everything that has happened.
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So, I mean, you know, we always talk about this thing is, I mean, it's almost like watching
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a movie, you know, it's like something you'd see on TV that you can't, you'd never think
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it would happen to you just to kind of a normal family, really.
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I mean, we, our family has been blessed beyond measure, just to be honest, and really lived
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I mean, been given every blessing you can imagine.
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But obviously, when something like this happens, you start questioning everything.
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And, but we have, my wife and I have four kids, two boys and two girls.
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And then we have a younger daughter named Sarah.
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So, I mean, our story is we, you know, raised our kids in church.
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We've raised our kids to respect adults, to do everything you think that a kid should be
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raised to do, you know, especially in a world today where that's a little more difficult
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than it used to be, it seems, especially in my generation.
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But, you know, to speak to Walker, I mean, Walker loved football.
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Some of the pictures you've probably seen of him, some of those that you referenced when
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We farm, we own land, we work, you know, we hunt.
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Really, that was a passion to develop, you know, about his seventh grade year started
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really to evolve into something he was really serious about.
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And so, we obviously supported him in that, and he was very dedicated to that.
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I mean, I guess if you could describe Walker in the context of who he was, he had a tremendous
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work ethic, and he was always supportive of his friends and people in school.
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And something we always loved about Walker is, you know, he was the kid that the parents,
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the teachers were always bragging on and proud to have him in their class.
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We wouldn't be here if he was, but just nothing that would indicate anything like this was
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And so, you know, so, which makes this so much harder, just the imagination of a kid that
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has all that going for him, you know, and I think when we, I've been doing a lot of speaking
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at schools and, and churches, and, and I know the kids hear me say that and they're like,
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how can, how is this possible that a kid that like you're describing, there's got to be
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And, um, you know, just the reality is it's not, I mean, there's exactly who we thought
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And, and of course we had a lot of questions, uh, I'll get into what happened in just a
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minute, but, you know, we had a lot of questions about, you know, how this, what, what was going
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on because obviously we didn't know, um, what happened for a while after, um, Walker's death.
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And I mean, this just happened December the first of this past fall.
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So, um, you know, all those questions and trying to understand what could have possibly
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I mean, when, when parents, uh, when, when parents hear stories like this, when we come
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across these kinds of tragic stories, I think the first natural reaction that people have
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Well, there must've been something else because I think what we're trying to do is that could
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He doesn't fit the typical, what we think or might think the typical profile of someone
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who would be caught in this kind of circumstance.
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And so I think that is kind of just the natural response that a lot of parents have because
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they don't want to grapple with the potential reality of the tragedy like this, um, hitting
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But what you're describing is someone, a guy who had everything going for him.
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And yet, you know, unbeknownst to you and his mom, there was something else going on behind
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And, and, you know, the thing that we were concerned about is there was something that
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had been brewing under the, under the surface that we just didn't know about for some time.
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And so, um, once we, once we, um, were able to FBI and local law enforcement ran all the
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analysis on his telephone, his kids think this stuff is, they, they can delete it and it
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And it doesn't, I mean, everything is there and everything is retrievable.
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Well, and they did, they went through his phone and wouldn't a comfort to us.
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I mean, it's, it's a comfort, but it's also a real fear that parents should have is that
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once we learned what was in Walker's, cause that's the best way to kind of get the perception
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of if you want to get as close to inside of somebody's mind today, it's with their telephone.
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And, you know, what we found was that Walker was just exactly what we thought he was.
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He was a 16 year old boy that liked to talk about football, liked to talk about hunting,
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There was nothing, no depression, no mental issues.
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We already knew that, but I mean, we just spent too much time with him.
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We would have recognized that as much time as we were together.
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And our family is as tight needed as you can imagine.
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Every weekend we're together during the week, we're playing sports and athletics or we're hunting.
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So it was no, there was no space for that to be some reality, even though at the same time,
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when this kind of catastrophe happens, you're thinking, how is this possible?
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So I think, you know, Walker's case is one that, you know, he, he was, he was so scared.
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And I think we have a hard time, I do have a hard time wrestling that.
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And so I try to go to, um, stories in the Bible to kind of give me a point of reference,
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you know, how could something scare you so bad?
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And I think about, you know, stories in the Bible where you see these heroes in the faith
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that were just, I mean, David, obviously going against a giant and you see him running for
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Well, it's just, we're all made in certain ways and there's certain things that bring a
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We can't, we can't describe this what happened to Walker.
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So, um, take us, take us to, take us to the moment.
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What I imagine was the hardest moment of your life, I'm assuming, um, which was finding out
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And then we can back up from there as you and his mom discovered kind of what was going
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on online through social media and behind the scenes.
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So, I mean, that the night before, um, I mean, it was a perfectly normal day.
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Um, Bennett Walker's younger brother and I went hunting, uh, Walker got home from school
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whenever we have a shed right by the pole barn, right by our house.
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And he goes over there and works out, comes in, I get in from hunting, Bennett gets in
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Uh, we always try to have supper together if possible.
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Um, Courtney, my wife put them to bed, uh, prayed with them.
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Everything was just as normal as you could imagine.
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Um, we, uh, wake up the next morning, my wife and I, we have, you know, have some coffee
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and, and I don't know, it was about six o'clock and we met each other in the living room.
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And, um, she said, well, I'm going to go up and check on the boys and, uh, get them ready
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So he was, uh, he, his birthday was November the 1st.
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And so he had just turned 16 and, um, he was, you know, we, he had been, he had started
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carrying his brother and sister, his older sister was off at school, but, uh, Bennett and
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Sarah was carrying them to school, started that, you know, like I said, within two or three
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And, uh, so she went up, um, goes up the stairs and goes and wakes up Bennett.
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And, um, she, um, goes into Walker's room and sees him kind of laying across his bed.
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And it's like, well, you know, the first, first glance, she thinks, you know, he's kind
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of playing a joke on her because she would do that every once in a while, you know?
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Um, and then quickly realizes that it was not a joke.
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And, um, um, I guess I could just describe that as complete chaos and, um, yeah, she screams
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for me, obviously, and I race up the stairs and I just very hard to describe that, that
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It was something that no one wants to hear and someone, no one wants to see or imagine.
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You can't, um, there's no, there's no measure of hurt that I can describe it as, um, short
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It's one thing for your child to die tragically by natural causes.
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I mean, that's already one of the worst things that a parent can go through.
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But for your child to die like this before they've even really come into bloom.
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I mean, I, I imagine it felt like an out of body experience at the time and that there
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was probably in, you know, in the beginning, a lot of denial that this is even real.
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It would almost feel like, oh my gosh, please God, just like, wake me up from this nightmare.
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Yeah, that's a, that's, that's exactly what was going on for the first couple of hours.
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You know, it was a real sense of, this is not real.
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This is a nightmare and we're going to wake up here any minute.
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And even into the first day or two, you know, and even today, I mean, to be honest with you,
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I mean, it's, there's days today where you're, especially when you wake up, it's, um, you
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wake up to a reality that, okay, is this, was this, is this really happening?
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And, um, you know, you have to, and unfortunately the, the real confirmation is the memories of
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And, um, you know, my wife and I both struggle with that and, uh, Walker's little brother
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saw him because he is, he's, they share the upstairs and, um, he, you know, he had a real
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And, um, you know, I think one of the, one of the most sobering moments still for that
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morning is, and I tell this to kids I see into, you know, the churches and stuff I go
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visit is, you know, that morning I can remember it was a couple hours after and we're still
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just, you know, tailspin and don't know what to think or do or anything.
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And Bennett is sitting on the couch and, um, we're all crying and upset and don't know
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And Bennett says, you know, I mean, in tears, he says, you know, this was just supposed to
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And he said that multiple times, but this was just supposed to be another normal day.
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And, and, you know, I think as a society and as a people we think of every day, we think
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But, um, obviously for us, you know, that, that idea of normal will never be again.
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I mean, it's, I've got faith that God's going to find a way to bring us to a new place that
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he wants us to live in that is more useful to him.
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But, um, the reality of what we were able to live in up to that point, that normal doesn't
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Tell us then about the process of figuring out everything that led up to this.
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Obviously you're, you know him and you truly do.
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It's not like he was a different person behind the scenes, but there was something going on
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online that you and your wife just didn't know about.
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So tell us about that discovery process and what, what it was that ultimately led to this.
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So obviously there was, I mean, we went, as soon as we called, called 911 and police showed
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up and we, I mean, they went through this room, went through everything, but I mean, the investigators
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even said themselves, you know, for somebody that's, we're investigating for this type of
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incident, this is one of the cleanest, you know, crime scene for lack of better terminology
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And, um, well, so, you know, we're not really surprised by that.
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So, um, they, we, obviously we, I mean, we had walkers, uh, that's a big problem pretty
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routinely is that people don't, the parents don't have the kids password to get into their
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It was, uh, pretty easy to, you know, we, we kept that tight.
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So we gave him his password to get into his telephone.
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They said they were going to download it and start, um, that was our local law enforcement
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And, and they had software and they pulled, um, pulled that.
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And so, I mean, but it's, none of that happens fast.
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I mean, so we really didn't have any awareness of what happened, um, until after the first of
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the year, like I said, that was decent with the first.
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And, um, after the first year, our local law enforcement said they had found a conversation
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between Walker and someone on, uh, Instagram and thought that that could very easily have
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Um, our, we started with the sheriff's department because we're in the county that our local,
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um, police department, the start with police department.
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Um, they got involved in the case because there were some other instances of sextortion that
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And so they wanted to tie that together and then they brought in, uh, the FBI to start
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evaluating, you know, is this a part of a, of a larger scheme or is this just isolated
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Um, I had to go back to my days, but I think it, well, probably not March.
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It's probably, uh, early February before we met with the FBI agent that was on the case
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I mean, I was very impressed with, um, her professionalism and ability to, to help through
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And she went through, um, you know, the conversation that Walker had had with this person with us
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and she told us specifically, you know, this was the cause.
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I mean, there was not anything else, um, any other evidence that pointed to anything else
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And, and what's interesting, um, you know, and it's interesting, again, it's very scary
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that, um, you know, that wasn't, I think sometimes it may get portrayed as, you know, a kid is
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involved in something bigger or doing something under the, you know, uh, you know, that, that
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their parents didn't know about, but this all happened one night.
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And this was not something that Walker had been doing for weeks or months or years or
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So, um, about midnight on December the first Walker, uh, received a message from someone
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And, uh, Walker replied and said, Hey, nothing, just hanging out.
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And so that conversation kind of goes back and forth.
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Um, they referenced that they're, that they're friends with somebody else that Walker knows,
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um, you know, a friend of his, somebody that he's friends with for school and, um, and they
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I mean, this is the best way I can describe it.
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Um, but it brings about consequences for the people that are being scammed way greater than
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the money that they're trying to scam out of people.
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So, um, anyway, um, they kind of exchange back and forth, just very casual conversation.
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Just like two high school kids would, where you go to school.
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Um, it looks like you play football, has football season going, just very typical conversation
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that finally leads to a conversation of, um, hey, do you want to fool around?
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And, um, Walker's, Walker says, well, what do you mean?
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It's like, well, let's open up a video chat in Instagram, which is, which is a, you know,
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basically a FaceTime portal through the messaging center in Instagram.
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And, um, that leads to a sexual encounter between Walker and what he believes is a 15, 16, 17 year
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And then once, as soon as that's over with, I'm knowing to Walker, um, they were recording
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him with another device from the other side of that connection, which was originating from
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We later found, um, and in that conversation, you know, you, I always kind of stopped there
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because I want people to think about you, me, I mean, all of us as adults, especially,
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and even, you know, teenagers that may be listening to this, I mean, just imagine yourself in the
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most compromising, most embarrassing scenario where you and us, all of us have found ourselves
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And what if that, I mean, for us, it's, it's been kept a secret, right?
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It's been kept to where the general public and the people we love and care about can't
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But in that moment, Walker realized that that moment that you and I could imagine was real
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and it was in the hands of somebody that wanted to cause him harm.
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I mean, we were talking about fear a while ago and that's really, you know, the driving
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And that fear of Walker was, you know, what are people going to say?
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And it wasn't good enough for Walker's imagination to wonder what people are going to do.
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That conversation starts now is very adversarial.
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I mean, they say, Hey, we've got this video of you.
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And, and, um, if you don't give us a thousand dollars, we're going to send it to everybody
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that, you know, um, I can only imagine Walker's fear at that point.
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Um, well, that goes, I mean, they continue to build this mountain of anxiety in front
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of Walker and we're going to destroy your life.
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We're going, I mean, they're telling him, you know, what, how people are going to react
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if Walker didn't already anticipate that they're telling him, Hey, everybody that you love is
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I mean, they're, they're just piled on, you know, and finally they get to where Walker's
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I live in the country, I don't have anywhere to go get money.
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I'm 15 years old, even though he was 16, I'm 15 years old.
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They said, well, steal the money from your mom and daddy.
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Um, they said, well, if you don't get us the money, we're sending the videos.
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And eventually they start sending him screenshots of their messaging side of Instagram, where
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they're showing him that they're sending the videos to people in his list.
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Walker didn't know it, but they weren't sending the videos.
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They were just showing him that they were sending the videos, trying to scare him to
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And now this, that I fear, I mean, it, it wasn't like a lot of these schemes, they try
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to, they try to, you know, play it out as long as they can to try to get the money.
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I know I'm going to get the money or I'm going to, you know, really put the pressure as
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hard as we can to get the money as fast as we can.
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Well, he's seeing now that these videos are being sent.
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And I know that that fear of what if this gets out is now transitioned to, you know,
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And how am I going to face tomorrow with everything that I love, everybody that I love and the
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importance of how people view me and the respect that I have for people and especially adults
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I can only imagine where his mind went at that point.
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And so finally, finally, they get to, uh, there, it looks like they're going down that list
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And they've, I mean, they've obviously done some kind of research, but it looks because
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they get to my wife's name is Courtney and, um, they get to her name and they put that message
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in, uh, in there that he's, that it's been sent to his mom.
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Um, and, um, you know, Walker replies, I'm just, I'm just going to kill myself.
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And, um, I mean, that's, that's what he says to him.
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He says, I'm, I'm going to, I'm going to kill myself then.
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And, um, you know, their response wasn't, Hey, don't do that.
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We will though, if you don't get us the money, wasn't anything like that.
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It was just, they had realized by this point, they weren't getting paid at least that night.
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You know, they, they realized they weren't getting paid at night.
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So it's a, now it's a matter of let's inflict as much damage as we can.
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So their response was go ahead because, uh, you're already dead anyway.
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And I tell that to, for people to understand how little regard to human lives these people
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It's, it's all about, and you could say it's all about the money, but at this point they
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They could have let, they could have chosen to let up and really, and realize, okay, this
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Let's back up because we're not gonna get the money, but that's not what they did.
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They, they continued to apply pressure and had this just complete lack of regard.
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I mean, it is the worst and most blatant form of the thief, Satan taking a victim and doing
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what he does all in one night, stealing, killing, destroying.
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Well, and he, you know, I, uh, it's very difficult to separate the react, their spiritual component
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It just has to be a constant reminder, the spiritual component of what Satan thought he
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And then the people that were involved, because I mean, it's very similar.
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Satan is, is in one context, very similar to how God operates.
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Satan operates through people and God does too.
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So, you know, we're sitting here seeing this, you know, these people that are occupied by
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Satan, by, you know, this spiritual fight that we're in.
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And, and, and that's, we shouldn't be surprised by their lack of empathy because they really
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They have no capacity to have regard to human life.
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Um, but Walker, um, at that point, uh, at some point, um, we're not exactly sure that
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we know that conversation went on from about midnight to about two o'clock in the morning.
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Um, he, um, he comes downstairs, uh, goes into my office and goes into my safe and, uh, takes
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And so, um, I, I can't, I can't emphasize enough the reality of this all happened before
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midnight of December the 1st, Walker was 100% just like your 16 year old kid.
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And we were living a life that was our best life that we could have never in a million years
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Um, but we, I allowed, um, I allowed a risk to exist in my family and that was technology
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that, you know, these phones and, and everything's not, I mean, I'm not that guy that says we
00:26:17.020
That's, I mean, God's perception of this world included the technology we have today.
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When he created the world in the very beginning, all the same capabilities were here in day one
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as they are today, except we know how to use them now.
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This is not some, he woke up today and said, what I'm going to do with the internet.
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Um, but as parents, I did not understand the risk that came along with the technology.
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I was lying, my son to have in his bedroom that night.
00:26:47.960
So I've, I've seen you say, um, give a recommendation to other parents.
00:27:06.740
Don't allow your children to be alone with a phone in their bedroom, especially at night.
00:27:15.140
So not that I'm trying to get you to go back and, you know, work out all of your regrets
00:27:21.420
and what ifs, but, you know, just for the sake of warning other parents, like what, what
00:27:29.700
Like what kind of regulations or restrictions or boundaries do you think parents should have
00:27:35.580
in place to at least try as much as they can to prevent something like this from happening?
00:27:41.620
So the reality today, you know, if I could, if I could go back, I mean, you know, that
00:27:47.400
comes back to us to a spiritual question too, but I mean, just the reality of very practical
00:27:54.040
There's not anything good that happens from 10 o'clock at night till six o'clock the next
00:27:59.240
Um, there's, there's not a re there's not a reason if, if, if our kids can't communicate
00:28:04.620
with their friends during the day from normal business hours, so to speak, um, there's nothing
00:28:12.000
That is that necessary that they need their phone with them in their bedrooms and especially
00:28:18.580
So we're talking about 13, probably even a little younger than that now, but at least 12,
00:28:25.620
13, um, through 18, uh, the access to information and to, I mean, specifically pornography, um,
00:28:34.560
on a cell phone as a 16 year old, I can remember if I'd had full access to unlimited content that
00:28:40.820
looked that way and it was that vivid and was that real and what's real.
00:28:44.680
Um, I know what I would have been doing and most other men, if they were being honest, would
00:28:50.240
Um, and so the difference is that the reason that most of us don't as men don't, don't
00:28:58.280
provide more conversations with our sons about that is because we can look back and say, well,
00:29:05.040
I mean, we would, we would look at magazines and other things and, and it wasn't, it led
00:29:09.500
to a warped perception of, uh, how we viewed a relationship with our wife and a warped perception
00:29:16.900
But, um, it didn't lead to what we're talking about here.
00:29:20.900
And so what we're talking about here is, is a world where the worst predators on this planet
00:29:33.780
So I didn't understand that as well as I should have.
00:29:37.260
And so back to your original question, I mean, there is nothing in this world that would
00:29:42.920
be unreasonable about a mother and father having oversight over technology, over their
00:29:48.900
kids, especially as long as they're in their home and they're paying the bill.
00:29:52.720
So if I could go back, I would say between 10 and the next morning, the phone comes in
00:29:59.080
my room and I'm going to observe some of the things you're looking at.
00:30:02.200
Now, I will tell you that in this world of technology today, that's a difficult task.
00:30:06.340
Even if a parent wants to do it, we're learning that, uh, it's very intentional that tech companies
00:30:11.660
and these device manufacturers don't want parents to be involved in their kids' content.
00:30:17.640
Uh, they want to keep us from seeing what they're looking at because they want straight
00:30:21.100
direct access to our kids so they can persuade them in their own persuasions.
00:30:25.280
And some of that's due to just pure, I want to push a narrative.
00:30:30.940
Some of it is, um, strictly around economic access.
00:30:35.340
And so, um, back to that question, what would I do?
00:30:39.320
I mean, parent parental oversight is a necessity in this world we're living in today.
00:30:43.580
There's too many things that can reach our kids and too many messages that you don't
00:30:46.560
want your kids to hear about through that device.
00:30:49.580
Um, that would be something that I would have done more aggressively if I didn't own the
00:30:57.740
And, you know, so, so now we're working hard to try to, you know, find ways to support legislation
00:31:04.220
to require tech companies to, I mean, you know, I say is, was it unreasonable?
00:31:09.080
Would it have been unreasonable for Instagram to not allow an IP address originating from Nigeria
00:31:16.040
that anybody could have looked at, any adult could have looked at with any kind of, you
00:31:19.840
know, tech background and seeing that it was a fraudulent account, um, from accessing my
00:31:28.560
You might be my son's direct message without passing that through me.
00:31:37.280
So, um, yeah, we're, we're working hard to try to figure out ways to, to fix that.
00:31:41.760
And so the FBI looks into this, looked into this story, obviously revealed to you, this
00:31:50.660
Is there not, I mean, is there any criminal liability here?
00:31:54.280
The people who scammed your son, are they going to face any charges, any consequences for
00:32:05.180
Um, you know, the FBI is very confident that if they find somebody, they're going to charge
00:32:11.180
them, um, the question remains whether or not we ever find them.
00:32:17.420
I mean, this, that's another aspect of the internet is, it's been created in such a way
00:32:22.360
that you can perpetrate crimes and there's almost, it's very difficult to track them.
00:32:31.260
Let me put it that way, uh, without going into a ton of detail of what the FBI is doing and
00:32:38.080
I just know that they're working and they're working with the Nigerian government to try
00:32:42.140
to bring this, um, bring these people to justice.
00:32:47.360
I mean, you couldn't believe now that, um, I've been, you know, in these conversations.
00:32:53.020
I mean, this week I've had three calls from parents, three calls this week that have messaged
00:32:58.280
me through Facebook or a connection through a podcast I've done and sent them to me of
00:33:04.040
parents who's in majority of it is, is, is young men.
00:33:07.840
Um, you know, three different occasions this week of young men that have been extorted and
00:33:16.320
Um, yeah, this is not, this is not an easy spot.
00:33:23.520
There was a similar story that CNN reported last year from May, 2022.
00:33:29.760
There was a boy, 17 years old, just a very similar story here.
00:33:34.960
Straight eight, straight eight student, boy scout.
00:33:37.820
One of those guys, again, seemed to come from a great family, had it all together, um, from
00:33:43.780
San Jose and same kind of thing, a girl seemingly on Instagram, you know, asked to exchange photos.
00:33:52.900
They did, and then asked for $5,000 and he actually ended up being able to transfer the
00:34:03.220
He transferred the money and then he actually emptied his college savings, transferred all
00:34:09.360
And still, you know, they didn't let up because it seems like going back to something that you
00:34:20.420
And this young boy, again, he also died by suicide.
00:34:25.680
So as you're saying, this is common, it's destructive.
00:34:34.480
And do you think that parents, if, even if they have restrictions on their children, and
00:34:39.700
even if they have as much oversight as possible, do you think that they should be having these
00:34:43.600
kind of proactive conversations with their daughters and sons to say, look, here's what
00:34:51.160
Don't ever send these kinds of photos or like, what do you think that kind of, uh, proactive
00:34:56.660
interaction between parents and teens should look like when it comes to this?
00:35:02.460
So what I've, what I've seen and what we're finding is, I'll give you another example.
00:35:06.740
So I spoke to a dad, it's been a month ago or so now.
00:35:09.460
Um, he had, right after I did that Fox news interview, um, he brought his son in and said,
00:35:23.840
So, I mean, it was somebody, you know, we were obviously local to him, local enough that
00:35:27.720
he, it was a, it was a very local example that he could give his son.
00:35:31.140
Well, that was say on a Tuesday, he had that conversation.
00:35:34.100
Well, by Saturday morning, he and his wife are gone to town and the son is at home and
00:35:43.420
And once he falls for it, he goes and gets them $500.
00:35:49.920
Well, he remembers, you know, the conversations dad had with, you know, about us.
00:35:55.200
And he, he at least recognizes that he's in enough trouble to call his dad and say, Hey,
00:36:05.360
I know a lot of parents, the parents I'm talking to, you know, they're, they're distraught.
00:36:09.280
I don't know what's going to happen if the content gets out.
00:36:13.720
And so I told the dad, I said, you have no idea what I would give for that opportunity.
00:36:17.720
You have to make this as a, as a, as a learning experience for your son.
00:36:22.320
This is not the last mistake he's going to make.
00:36:25.420
I mean, he's, he's sitting there walking around with it with something in his pocket every
00:36:28.380
day, that telephone that is filled with opportunities to make mistakes.
00:36:33.000
So to answer your question, you know, what I hope happens is that parents, if nothing
00:36:37.320
else, just show them if it's an interview like this, if it's a podcast, if it's me on
00:36:41.420
my Facebook page somewhere, show them somewhere.
00:36:44.100
And this is a good lead into this conversation because I tell kids, you know, the, the ideal
00:36:48.860
scenario is you don't step in the trap because Walker stepped right in the middle of the trap.
00:36:56.320
I think, you know, the way this is described so many times is we, the, the, the sextortionist,
00:37:06.900
And that's problematic, but I want people to understand that for the majority of these,
00:37:21.380
If you could imagine what the video was, he was on his side of the, of the connection.
00:37:26.780
And, and I, I don't want to get too far into the deep water on that, but I want people to
00:37:31.440
really understand this is not a simple picture of Walker.
00:37:37.900
And so it's not like we were in our generation that you could, if you were caught doing something,
00:37:47.560
This is, and this, this induced a fear that I can't imagine.
00:37:52.000
I can try to imagine because what if all of a sudden as a professional, as somebody that
00:37:56.660
is running a business and a family and involved in church and all those people that are looking
00:38:01.540
to you to have a higher standard, all of a sudden they see this, what's that going
00:38:07.140
If I wake up to that, that's what Walker was faced with.
00:38:10.380
And so the fear that it induces is something more than just a picture.
00:38:16.940
And so the conversations needs to be that kids, look, this is something that is very
00:38:22.780
serious and that you could fall for very easily.
00:38:26.080
I tell boys, I tell when I go to the schools, I tell them, I said, look, boys, your, your
00:38:30.580
blind spot is that you have a physical need for sex.
00:38:34.080
You do girls, you have a, you have a need for attention and people telling you you're
00:38:46.480
And so what they're doing with the girls is they're extorting them for content.
00:38:50.100
So once they get them hooked, they're recording, cause that's what we expect Walker was looking
00:38:55.220
We think Walker was looking at it as a video of a girl that had been extorted.
00:39:00.020
And so the girls are paying by supplying them with content and the boys have to pay them
00:39:07.560
So, um, it's, it's a trap, but this is, you know, this is, I tell people, this is the trap
00:39:15.040
of today, you know, in a year, maybe we get our hands around this, maybe we, you know,
00:39:21.880
get to the point where we can prosecute some people and slow it down.
00:39:24.820
But right now, the only defense that we have is awareness.
00:39:28.840
Your kids have got to know this is there and you got, they've got to know it.
00:39:45.040
Well, the fact that you and your wife, that y'all are still standing, that y'all are still
00:39:51.320
here after enduring the worst tragedy that I think any parent can possibly imagine that
00:40:02.580
And then that you are also going into the pain that I'm sure would be easier to just kind
00:40:08.820
of shut away and you are sharing that with the world and the hopes that you will help
00:40:13.660
other parents avoid this pain that I think is a testament just to the power of the Holy
00:40:21.260
Spirit and the work of the Lord to be able to redeem seemingly irredeemable situations,
00:40:27.060
to make beauty out of the ashes, to intend for good, something that Satan only intended
00:40:35.840
And so I'm very appreciative of you for being obedient in that.
00:40:40.320
But I want to hear some, like, how has this been from a spiritual perspective, from a faith
00:40:46.360
I'm sure that there are moments that it's not just like, you know, thank you, Lord, for
00:40:53.580
I'm sure that there are some really dark moments.
00:40:55.400
But if you could give some encouragement to parents who have either gone through this or
00:41:00.420
maybe their child died by suicide for another reason, whatever it is.
00:41:04.940
But there are a lot of parents who have been through a similar situation of loss.
00:41:09.420
How have you worked through this as a Christian?
00:41:14.380
So, I mean, I would tell you that, you know, my faith has been all over the board.
00:41:19.360
You know, and I think there I mean, I think there's a when I say all over the board, I think
00:41:24.180
it's a matter of, you know, I've got a question.
00:41:27.500
OK, the number one question is, God, you could have you could have stopped this.
00:41:33.440
I mean, it's the same God we serve that if he's able to handle my salvation for eternity,
00:41:38.780
he's able to stop Walker from pulling the trigger on that gun.
00:41:47.240
And that reason is ultimately for our good somehow.
00:41:52.400
I know that this temporary separation from Walker is temporary.
00:41:54.820
But in the meantime, what Satan did is he didn't he don't under he don't he may not realize
00:42:04.140
But God's got a plan, not because I've got some special strength or anything else.
00:42:09.460
But through us, God is going to bring some people to himself that he wouldn't have otherwise.
00:42:18.540
But that is, you know, some days that's comforting.
00:42:28.100
And really, to be honest, every day is I just won't walk her back.
00:42:31.320
But you come to a quick reality that that's not going to happen.
00:42:37.460
And inherently, I will speak for myself and my wife personally, we're fighters.
00:42:42.080
If I could, I'd be in Nigeria fighting somebody, but I can't.
00:42:48.040
And I understand that the fight is not with people is with Satan is with a spiritual fight
00:42:53.940
and God's God comes across people think about God in the Bible is, is this and he is he's
00:43:02.800
But when he comes back, he's coming back with a sword.
00:43:06.940
And I see that fight that we have in front of us.
00:43:15.860
And the only way to fight that is with love and helping other people see that I don't want
00:43:27.400
From a spiritual perspective, just knowing that God is right there with us every step.
00:43:34.220
He tells us not to be afraid, tells us to be courageous and continue to fight this fight.
00:43:42.140
We talk a lot about Psalm 37 and that's always a comfort to me whenever I'm considering just,
00:43:47.580
you know, personal evil, you know, in our own lives or just the public evil that we see kind
00:43:54.200
of ravaging our country is that God is not doing nothing that, as you said, one day he will come back
00:43:59.940
and he will repay all of the evil that has been done.
00:44:04.200
He will do away with all of the wicked and the evildoers.
00:44:10.460
Um, and one day he will take care of all of it and we can rest secure in that.
00:44:17.080
In the meantime, he has this incredible ability to redeem the darkest and the most depraved things
00:44:24.120
that happen here on earth somehow in some kind of mysterious way for his glory.
00:44:29.380
Um, so I'm, I'm thankful that you're willing to share your story and gosh, I was touched by your
00:44:42.640
Um, I also just want to give people, um, we're going to link in the description of this episode
00:44:48.220
there, the DOJ, they have a list of kind of do's and don'ts when it comes to finding yourself or your
00:44:56.420
child, finding themselves in a situation of sextortion, the things that you're supposed to do
00:45:03.880
And so we're going to link that just so people have that resource.
00:45:07.300
Um, but is there any, is there any other resources that you would recommend that people can connect
00:45:17.200
I mean, not really as it relates to sextortion.
00:45:19.920
I would, I would tell them that's a great resource you just described.
00:45:23.660
Um, there's a, should be a, uh, 1-800 number to call on there for help.
00:45:28.540
If you're in that situation and need help, I know of a kid that actually called that number
00:45:35.360
Um, you know, and so definitely in that scenario, do that.
00:45:39.640
If you would go through my Facebook page, it's just Brian Montgomery on Facebook.
00:45:42.840
I was, uh, I've got a message on there from Walker's funeral.
00:45:48.760
If people don't know Christ and they want to understand where that hope comes from, that's,
00:45:54.680
Um, and we're planning on in the near future, starting a nonprofit to start promote, um,
00:46:00.260
safe online activities for kids and try to figure out ways to hopefully promote legislation,
00:46:06.720
support legislation, and give parents some tools to try to help them start to come alongside
00:46:11.920
their kids because we've crossed a, we've, we've crossed a, a line in the sand, so to
00:46:20.740
And, and, I mean, it's kind of like at some point in time, this country agreed that there
00:46:27.140
And, um, you know, there was a time I'm sure where there wasn't, that wasn't the case.
00:46:31.900
And so, uh, I feel like we've crossed that point.
00:46:35.160
Nobody wants to acknowledge it and admit it because we're all addicted to it, but, um,
00:46:41.620
We've got to, we've got to figure that out or else with some of the technologies coming
00:46:44.780
down the line with, uh, AI and some of the things that are about to happen.
00:46:48.760
If we don't get our hands around this, our culture is going to have a major shift and
00:46:59.500
And thank you for taking the time to come on today.