Adebola Festus Adekunle, a 26 year old man from Lagos, Nigeria, is due to stand trial today in Aberdeen, Mississippi, on federal charges arising from the alleged sextortion of 16 year old Walker Montgomery, who took his own life in December 2022.
Adekunle was arrested in Nigeria in August 2023 during a wider FBI operation targeting financially motivated sextortion of minors. He was extradited to the United States on 27 August 2026 and made an initial appearance the following day in federal court in Oxford. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Prosecutors allege that Adekunle created an Instagram account under the name janet_dashay and posed as a 19 year old girl from Greensboro, North Carolina. According to the indictment, he contacted Montgomery, a student and football player at Starkville Academy in Starkville, around 28 November 2022. He is said to have persuaded the teenager to share sexually explicit images or take part in a recorded exchange. He then demanded 1,000 dollars under threat of sending the material to the boy’s family and friends. Court documents state that when Montgomery said he intended to take his own life, Adekunle allegedly replied “okay”. Montgomery died on 1 December 2022.
The charges include sexual exploitation of a minor resulting in death, production of child sexual abuse material, coercion and enticement of a minor, and interstate threats with intent to extort. Conviction on the exploitation resulting in death count carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years, with an overall maximum of life imprisonment.
The case forms part of Operation Artemis, an FBI effort against Nigerian based networks involved in similar schemes. Montgomery’s father, Brian Montgomery, has previously spoken of the family’s distress and their continued push for greater online safety measures. Adekunle denies the allegations and the trial is listed before Senior United States District Judge Sharion Aycock.
By A.Ikechukwu
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