'Dad, I screwed up': A year after their son's death, P.E.I. family speaks out about sextortion

Warning: This story deals with suicide. If you or someone you know has been the victim of sexual extortion, or is struggling with mental health, you can find resources for help at the bottom of this story.

As the first anniversary of 17-year-old Harry Burke's death approaches, his parents are going public with their story, driven by a desire for social media companies and governments to do more to make young people safe from international sextortion schemes.

Harry Burke, a student at Souris Regional School in eastern P.E.I., died by suicide just hours after he started a conversation with a new contact on Snapchat, who posed as a girl and tempted him into sharing intimate images. Once those pictures were sent, the contact threatened to ruin his career and destroy his life if he didn't send money.

It was April 24, 2023. Harry had just completed one of his last weekends of basic training for the armed forces reserves.

"He was very passionate about his country. He believed strongly in Canada," said his dad, Carl Burke.

"He said to me once, 'Dad, I want to change Canada. I want to make a difference.' I really felt he probably would have."

Harry was tired that day, and his dad suggested he stay home from school. They did some work around the house together. There was nothing unusual about the day, Burke said, until late that evening.

"Harry came to me about 9:30 that evening and said, 'Dad, I screwed up.' He said, 'I had shared pictures and now this person wants money.'"

Harry told his parents his first contact with the person had been at 4 p.m., less than six hours earlier.

Burke said he knew that paying money wouldn't solve anything and that demands would just keep coming. They sat down as a family to discuss it — Harry, his father, his mother Barbie Lavers, and his younger sister Ella. They decided to call RCMP in the morning and report the incident.

During the discussion, an alert went off on his mother's phone.

"This is how nasty these people can get," said Lavers.

"This person that had been contacting Harry actually messaged me when Harry was speaking to us — and Ella was with us, we were talking about it as a family — messaged me and said they were going to ruin him. And I really wish Harry hadn't seen that message, because he was sitting with me when it came through."

Harry called one of his military friends, who told him some pictures had already been sent.