(Photo from FBI Director Kash Patel on X)
- Federal prosecutors say the Nigerian man posed as a 19-year-old female from North Carolina to blackmail the Starkville 16-year-old for money over nude photos. Montgomery took his own life days later.
The Nigerian man extradited to the U.S. to face charges in the sextortion scheme that resulted in the death of a Starkville teen in 2022 has pled not guilty in federal court.
Federal and state law enforcement announced Friday that Adebola Festus Adekunle had been extradited from Nigeria to the United States for the alleged criminal acts that led to the death of 16-year-old Walker Montgomery.
Adekunle waived his arraignment and detention hearing. A trial is scheduled for October 19 in Aberdeen.
Court documents show that federal authorities have been working this case with an eye on Adekunle since 2023. An indictment was handed down by a grand jury in July 2023 which allege that Adekunle posed as a 19-year-old female from North Carolina on Instagram.
Montgomery was contacted by Adekunle on November 28, 2022. Three days later on December 1, the Nigerian man allegedly asked the teen to produce images for a “nude exchange.” The Mississippi teen sent the sexually explicit materials to Adekunle who was said to be posing as “janet_dashay.”
Prosecutors say Adekunle then used the images to blackmail Montgomery, seeking money from the youth. When the teen did not have the money, Adekunle threatened to “ruin your life and your whole career and everything you’ve worked for” if payment was not made. Adekunle sent Montgomery screenshots of the photos that appeared to be sent to the teen’s family and friends.
Adekunle continued to threaten and harass Montgomery, demanding payment to delete the photos.
The indictment states that Montgomery then told Adekunle he was going to kill himself and the Nigerian replied with “okay.”
Montgomery was found dead the next morning from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Since Montgomery’s death, Mississippi has made sextortion a crime.
Lawmakers have also unanimously passed the Walker Montgomery Protecting Children Online Act requiring social media platforms to make reasonable efforts to prevent or mitigate children’s exposure to potentially harmful content while using the platforms. NetChoice, a trade association, has challenged the Mississippi law, claiming that the legislation violates citizens’ constitutionally protected rights, endangers their online privacy and security, and thwarts their rights to make decisions for their family as they deem appropriate. NetChoice’s members include Amazon; Google, owner of YouTube; Snap Inc., the parent company of SnapChat; Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram; Netflix; X; and other prominent online platforms.
The indictment and plea documents are show below.
