I'm being blackmailed **TW: contains content about alleged child abuse**

[Wheretoturnnow12345]

I'm honestly at my wits end here. Someone I've not heard from in 15 years has made contact today out of the blue and is blackmailing me over something I did in the past when I was 16. This could seriously ruin my life and I genuinely don't know what to do

Posting here mainly for traffic

Call the police, obviously.

Call the police and don’t have any contact with the blackmailer

I think I would phone the police for advice.

Other than say call the police what do you expect us to say?

Yes police asap

What they are blackmailing me over was illegal though, that's the issue.

I haven't responded yet and they don't know I've seen the message

This is a crime. Phone the police

Illegal enough to get arrested or just a slap on the wrists cos you were a daft teenager? Who are they threatening to tell and how will it impact your life if they do?

Going to the police is the only option - it's not going to be easy, but it's better than being blackmailed.

You wouldn't need to tell the police what the blackmail is regarding if you just phone and ask for general advice. You wouldn't even need to give your own details at that point but they could at least advise you what the next steps would be.

Call the police

Other than knowing what you did, will this person have any physical proof/evidence of what you did? Is there any video footage/photos etc etc with you on it?

If there is no actual evidence, other than this person knowing what you did, then its word against word.

If you give into blackmail, they will keep doing it.
however they contacted you, delete the platform, block, and never look back.

Thank you, my worry would be then the guy has nothing to lose and may as well drop it

You may have done something illegal, but is there any proof of this? Are the police likely to pursue this if you deny it and there’s no evidence?

I’d take my chances on calling the police and denying or downplaying my involvement with whatever it was.

Illegal as in theft, criminal damage, fraud etc?

Or illegal as in child abuse, voilence or murder?

There's a massive difference and also what a 16 year old would have been culpable for.

Context is huge and the implications/advice are dependent on that too.

It depends whether it was a summary offence or not - we can’t help you without this information - have a look here:
https://www.google.com/search?q=is+there+a+statute+of+limitations+on+illegal+activities+in+the+past+in+the+UK%3F&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari
hope this helps you…

Do they have any actual proof?

Have you responded to them at all ?

There was a video in the past but it was poor quality given the tech at the time. I'm not sure if he has it

Something you did when you were 16 is unlikely to be a concern to the police now unless it was really bad. I'd call them. Take the power away from the blackmailing scum.

The obvious thing to do is go to the police.

What evidence does the person have?
Why now what do they want from you?
If you go to the police would it just be a slap on the wrist you get or would you be in serious trouble?

Is there any proof whatsoever that you did this illegal thing? If it was SA or violent assault or murder then you should own up. If not then call their bluff. Say I don't care what you do and don't know what you're talking about. Then block.

How illegal?

If you shoplifted a few times... Go to the police. They won't care about this type of past crime.

If the crime was serious, resulting in harm to others then you'll have to choose between giving in to the blackmailer or coming clean. Coming clean will prevent the blackmailer escalating their demands and may actually give you some relief from keeping this secret.

How illegal? There's an interview of 24 Hours in Police Custody on 4od where a man is being blackmailed for visiting a prostitute- they threaten to tell his family. The police treated him with kindness and respect and their focus was catching the blackmailer. (Apparently he hadn't broken the law in visiting a prostitute though.) Give it a watch, it might make you feel better able to trust the police?

How bad is it? Murder? Theft?

Call the police for advice.