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 Missouri, 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 Missouri laws that criminalize similar conduct. These laws include statutes related to blackmail, extortion, harassment, stalking, and the non-consensual dissemination of private sexual images, often referred to as 'revenge pornography.' For instance, Missouri Revised Statutes Section 573.110 addresses 'nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images,' making it a crime to knowingly distribute an image of another person who is identifiable and is engaged in a sexual act or whose intimate parts are exposed, without the person's consent. Additionally, Missouri's extortion laws, found in Section 570.030, could apply to situations where someone threatens to release explicit images unless they receive something of value. The exact charges and penalties would depend on the specifics of the case, including the nature of the threat, the demands made, and the harm caused to the victim.