LANSING, MI - Emily Sluiter was in a children's hospital when she received a text from her son Henry's soccer coach, informing her that he earned a spot on his freshman soccer team.
At that time, she was meeting with an organ and tissue donation coordinator "to learn how other kids' lives might be saved by the loss of Henry's."
"We stopped our meeting with a coordinator so we could go back to Henry's hospital room and tell him the good news while his heart was still beating," Sluiter told state lawmakers Thursday. "We knew by that time it was a matter of when, and not if, his heart would stop beating and his precious life would end at just 14 years old, a few years before his freshman orientation."
Sluiter, who described her teenage son as kindhearted and charismatic, said he died by suicide in August 2024, after being sextorted.
She was one of several parents who testified before the House Government Operations Committee on March 12, advocating for the passage of legislation that would require education on the dangers of sextortion.
In the days after her son was hospitalized, Sluiter said her family learned from the Kent County Sheriff's Department about how a male teenager had created a fake social media profile, posing as a young woman while he attempted to solicit nude photos from 17 children in Michigan and other states.
"After Henry made a mistake and sent him a photo, the perpetrator tried to control him and humiliate him," Sluiter said. "We learned from reading the panicked messages that Henry had sent to his close friends in the minutes before his death, how terrified he was."
Sluiter said her son debated with his friends whether he'd be in legal trouble, and "Henry said he didn't think he could live with this."
"I pray no parent listening to this statement will ever have to read their child's last written words, but we will be forever grateful to Henry's friends who filled his screen with words of love and support, encouragement and wisdom beyond their years," she said.
She and several other parents who testified are now trying to raise awareness about the dangers of sextortion and urged the passage of a bill that advocates say would help.
House Bill 4848 would require the state Department of Education, along with public school districts, intermediate school districts (ISDs) and public school academies, to provide information on sextortion to school personnel, parents and middle/high school students.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children defines sextortion against minors as a form of child sexual exploitation where children are threatened or blackmailed, most often with the possibility of sharing sexual images of them publicly. A person demands additional sexual content, sexual activity or money from the child.
In 2024, the center received nearly 100 reports of financial sextortion a day, and since 2021 is aware of more than three dozen teenage boys who have taken their lives as a result of the crime.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation reported roughly 12,600 cases of sextortion involving minors nationwide between 2021 and 2023. In at least 20 of those cases, the result was suicide.
The bill sponsor, state Rep. John Fitzgerald, D-Wyoming, said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) office in Detroit receives multiple sextortion cases every week, and "there may be dozens of victims who, quite frankly, never come forward."
Fitzgerald believes the legislation will ensure that in addition to criminal penalties, there are prevention measures to "save lives and educate people about the prevalence of this and how to seek help."
The bill requires at least one meeting each school year be held to share free educational materials on sextortion from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the FBI or the Office for Victims of Crime.
He said the legislation is the last remaining piece of Jordan D's Law, which passed and was signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in early 2025.
The two bills that were signed increased penalties for the act of sextortion against minors, up to a 20-year felony. The legislation's tiered system created more severe consequences for repeat offenders, and it built in counseling provisions for offenders who are minors.
A third bill in the package included the educational provisions. It passed the House last term, but did not move through the Senate. Fitzgerald has since reintroduced it.
Jordan D's law is named after Jordan DeMay, described by Fitzgerald as a 17-year-old football player and homecoming king from Marquette who died by suicide in 2022 after becoming a victim of online sextortion.
Fitzgerald said from the time a threatening message was exchanged in Jordan's case, it only took six hours to escalate to a fatality.
Today, Stephanie Rodriguez-Torres said the "D" in Jordan's law also represents her son - Deyani Rodriguez-Torres - an "old soul" and "one of the most caring people I have ever met," who also took his life after being sextorted.
"We specifically left Jordan's last name as the first initial in an effort to name my son, our son, discreetly, until our family was ready to share his story," she said, adding, "the general public thinks my son committed suicide at face value. This is far from the truth."
Rodriguez-Torres said she believes her 13-year-old would still be alive if she and her family had been more educated on the topic of sextortion.
"I am not at all trying to sell the idea that this bill will fix the problems of sextortion," she said, "but I am in full belief that awareness, education and communication will go a long ways and save many, many children."
She said when work began on the bills, hers and Jordan's family were the only two known in Michigan to have lost children to sextortion.
Now, Rodriguez-Torres said at least one other Michigan family has lost a child.
Sluiter said her son Henry was one of the last in his friend group to have a cell phone, kept his gaming systems in common areas, turned his phone over at 9 p.m. on school days and was frequently spoken to about the dangers of interacting online and sending inappropriate photos.
"Like many parents, we were doing our best to protect our kids while navigating our rapidly changing technological landscape," she said.
"Parents alone cannot keep their children safe in the digital world. Schools have a critical part to play in teaching our kids how to survive the various threats they face in a world of social media with little regulations," she added.
"Our kids deserve to know that sending an inappropriate picture is a bad decision, but threatening to circulate that photo is now a crime."
Fitzgerald said the bill has gone through many iterations with the support of stakeholder groups. A unanimously-approved substitute more clearly described how information should be shared by schools and added non-public schools after they asked to be included.
He said stakeholders have been sensitive to the potential cost to schools. Districts can utilize existing training materials and other resources from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and can distribute materials digitally.
Marquette County Sheriff George Zyburt said he knows teachers are burdened by many requirements already, "but this is so important in the 21st century."
The bill is similar to legislation that passed in South Carolina. State Rep. Brandon Guffey spoke during the hearing about the loss of his 17-year-old son Gavin Guffey to sextortion.
"He was contacted by someone pretending to be a girl next door or in a neighboring state, and an hour and 40 minutes later, he had taken his life," Guffey said. "I had never heard of sex extortion at that time."
Guffey said since working to pass Gavin's Law, he's seen the awareness portion become the biggest asset.
When he spoke at one South Carolina high school, nine students that were currently being extorted came forward.
For minors who may be experiencing sextortion, Zyburt urged them to reach out to a trusted adult, like a parent, teacher, police officer or pastor.
"If a child is to bring this to an adult, the last thing we want to do is punish them for reporting this," he said. "There is going to be embarrassment. There's going to be consequences, but ultimately it's not worth taking your life."
The bill was supported by the Michigan Catholic Conference, Michigan High School Athletic Association, Education Advocates of West Michigan, Michigan Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics, Michigan Department of Education , Michigan Association Non-Public Schools and Michigan Sheriff's Association .