‘He’d just got comfortable in who he was’ … Brandon Guffey with a portrait of his son Gavin. Photograph: Mike Belleme View image in fullscreen ‘He’d just got comfortable in who he was’ … Brandon Guffey with a portrait of his son Gavin. Photograph: Mike Belleme How we survive Online abuse My son killed himself after falling for an online scam. I heard it happen – and vowed to protect other children Gavin Guffey was 17 when he was targeted by a ‘sextortionist’ on Instagram. His father Brandon has spent four years fighting for justice, and for social media companies to do more to safeguard young users
Prefer the Guardian on Google W hat were the last words Brandon Guffey said to his son Gavin? Four years on, he still struggles with this question. “That last exchange, it bothers me constantly,” he says. “I think I said, ‘Goodnight, buddy. I love you,’ and he said, ‘I’ll see you in the morning.’ I sincerely hope that’s what I said. The truth is, I’ll never know for certain.”
The exchange happened in 2022, on a hot July in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where, just weeks before, Guffey had won the Republican ticket to stand for the state’s House of Representatives. The election was three months away, Guffey’s head was buzzing with politics, and he’d spent that evening at a local event.
The house was still when he returned home just before midnight. His wife, Melissa, had gone to bed; his two younger sons, Callahan, 4, and Coen, 16, and both family dogs were sleeping too. The only sounds were the summer cicadas and the frogs calling from the nearby creek – and also the laughter of his 17-year-old-son, Gavin. He was gaming in his bedroom, headset on, talking with friends. It was the long summer break between school and starting college. “I often say Gavin was living his best life at that point,” says Guffey. “He’d just got comfortable in who he was. He wasn’t trying to ‘fit in’ or please anyone. He was looking forward to starting college and pursuing his dream of becoming an art teacher.”
View image in fullscreen Guffey with Gavin. Photograph: Courtesy of Brandon Guffey A call came in on Guffey’s phone. He wishes he’d never taken it. The idea that Gavin might have needed his dad when he was unavailable, talking politics on the porch outside, is almost too much to bear – but in the hour that followed, Gavin’s life hurtled towards darkness.
A friend request came in on Gavin’s Instagram from BellaJanet28. They shared friends – their exchange shows that Gavin thought she was a volleyball player from a local college. Guffey still hasn’t been able to bring himself to read the conversation that took place between them, but he knows that BellaJanet28 suggested a game of truth or dare, which led to Gavin sending intimate photos, and then a sextortion attempt. BellaJanet28 demanded money, otherwise the images would be shared with all Gavin’s contacts.
At about 1.30am, Guffey saw Gavin on the landing, where they had that last exchange. Moments later, a terrifying sound, a crash, like a bowling ball, boomed from the bathroom, where Guffey found his son lying on the floor. The smell of gunpowder, the blood soaking into his socks, Melissa’s screams, still haunt and horrify him. “I’ll never stop replaying it,” he says. “They’re etched into me for ever.”
View image in fullscreen Guffey at a press conference in Washington DC in February 2026. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images Guffey is a South Carolina state representative now, and a leading advocate for ch…