Gov. Jerry Brown this week signed into law a bill outlawing sexual extortion, marking the fifth state-level victory for a legislative campaign shepherded by an Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe public policy team.
Sexual extortion, also called “sextortion,” involves the threat of publicizing stolen or coerced sexual images in an attempt to blackmail victims. The criminal activity, which often targets minors, does not fall neatly under existing statutes that bar child pornography or so-called revenge porn.
