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 Maryland, sextortion is not explicitly defined as a standalone offense in the state statutes. However, individuals who engage in sextortion can be prosecuted under various existing laws that criminalize related conduct. For instance, Maryland criminalizes the non-consensual distribution of private visual representations of another person under its 'revenge porn' laws (Maryland Criminal Law Code Ann. § 3-809). Additionally, the state's extortion and blackmail statutes (Maryland Criminal Law Code Ann. § 3-701) could be applied to cases where someone threatens to release explicit images unless they receive something of value. Furthermore, Maryland's laws against electronic harassment and cyberstalking (Maryland Criminal Law Code Ann. § 3-805) may also be relevant in sextortion cases, particularly when threats or harassment occur online. These laws collectively provide a framework for prosecuting individuals who engage in sextortion, ensuring that such conduct is subject to legal consequences.