The criminal offense of sextortion is a form of blackmail or extortion and is committed when a person threatens to publish private nude, pornographic, or explicit photos, videos, or images of another person’s body or sexual activity unless the person provides something of value—such as money, sexual activity, more sexual images, or the performance of sexual acts (often online using webcams).

Sextortion laws vary from state to state and are sometimes part of a state’s laws regarding revenge pornography, blackmail, extortion, bribery, or cyberstalking and are prosecuted under those or other criminal offenses rather than as a specific offense called sextortion. These laws are generally located in a state’s statutes—often in the penal or criminal code—and are sometimes titled with descriptive names such as The Unlawful Disclosure or Promotion of Intimate Visual Material.

In Arkansas, sextortion is not recognized as a distinct criminal offense under a specific statute titled 'sextortion.' However, individuals who engage in sextortion can be prosecuted under various existing state laws that criminalize related conduct. For instance, Arkansas Code Annotated § 5-26-314 addresses 'Nonconsensual Dissemination of Private Sexual Images,' which is similar to what is commonly referred to as revenge pornography. This law makes it illegal to knowingly distribute an image of another person who is nude or engaged in sexual activity without their consent. Additionally, Arkansas has laws against blackmail (Arkansas Code Annotated § 5-36-102) and extortion (Arkansas Code Annotated § 5-36-103), which could be applied in sextortion cases where threats are made to obtain money, sexual acts, or other things of value. Furthermore, cyberstalking and computer-related crimes are covered under Arkansas Code Annotated § 5-41-108 and § 5-41-103, respectively, which could also encompass certain behaviors associated with sextortion. Victims of such offenses may seek legal recourse through these statutes, and perpetrators can face serious criminal penalties if convicted.