COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio lawmakers have introduced a bill that will increase penalties for sextortion crimes in honor of a 15-year-old Olentangy football player who was a victim of a scam.
Braden Markus was like any average teenager. He enjoyed time on the field, studied for his driver’s test and played Xbox with his cousins.
That quickly changed on Oct. 17, 2021, when he began talking to someone he thought was a teenage girl on Instagram.
He was the victim of a financial sextortion scam and it drove him to take his own life.
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That morning, a predator posing as a teenage girl added him on Instagram. The person sent Braden pictures of a high school girl, and then harassed him for pictures of himself. Braden gave in, and the scammer made a video using his image.
The scammer then threatened to release the video unless Braden paid $1,800.
Braden begged the person to stop, but they didn’t. He took his own life just 27 minutes after the conversation began.
“Essentially, somebody came into our house and, in my eyes, murdered my kid in front of the whole world,” his mother, Jennifer Markus, said. “They should have to pay some time and pay the crime.”
Braden isn’t alone.
Between October 2021 and March 2023, the FBI and Homeland Security received more than 13,000 reports of financial sextortion of minors involving at least 12,600 victims. Most of the victims were boys, and these cases of sextortion led to at least 20 people dying by suicide.
These horrifying experiences inspired Braden’s family to use their loss to make children safer online. That’s why Jennifer Markus teamed up with friend and attorney Rachel Winder, government relations manager at Benesch Law. She convinced her employer to help pro bono.
Together, they paired with Ohio State Rep. Beth Lear, Rep. Brian Lorenz, and State Sen. Andrew Brenner to create Braden’s Law. If passed, the bill would make sextortion a felony crime in Ohio of the first, second or third degree with extended prison time.
“I think it really raises the awareness and accountability level,” Lorenz said. “If you’re one of those terrible, evil people that are thinking about committing this crime, maybe you’ll think about it. So, for me, the penalty levels that have increased are substantial in nature.”
Braden’s Law would also mandate that companies give parents of deceased minors digital access within 30 days of their children’s deaths. This measure is meant to prevent another family from experiencing what Braden’s parents did when he died.
It took Braden's family 10 months to get access to his phone, which held important information about the sextortion scam and his suicide.
“If somebody needs to see what has my child been doing, who has been contacting them, they should be able to do that in a much more expedited way,” Lear said.
Braden should be graduating with his friends from Olentangy High School this May. Instead of a graduation ceremony, his friends and family and Ohio lawmakers will fill the high school’s football stadium on Thursday to announce Braden’s Law in honor of the boy whose life ended far too soon.
“I hear from families and parents all over the state of Ohio of personal tragedies,” Brenner said.
“This is one of many steps that I believe we as legislators are going to have to take here in the General Assembly,” he added.
If you or someone you know is in crisis and needs immediate support, you can contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Simply call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. Or visit 988.Ohio.Gov to learn more about what 988 is doing across the state.