SC lawmakers welcome Nigerian Lawal’s guilty plea deal in Gavin Guffey sextortion case

Nigerian Hassanbunhussein Abolore Lawal has agreed to plead guilty in the sextortion case linked to the 2022 death of Gavin Guffey, son of South Carolina lawmaker Brandon Guffey, The Herald reported.

Nigerian Hassanbunhussein Abolore Lawal has agreed to plead guilty in the sextortion case linked to the death of the son of South Carolina lawmaker Brandon Guffey, The Herald reported.

Lawal, 26, signed a plea agreement on Thursday to charges of production of child pornography and cyberstalking resulting in death, court records show.

Gavin Guffey, 17, died by suicide in 2022. Lawal, posing as a woman online, allegedly obtained explicit photos from him and threatened to publish them unless he was paid.

Lawal was extradited from Nigeria in 2025.

“It’s frustrating that it took almost two years to get to this point considering there was never any doubt that this was the man responsible for my son’s death,” Brandon Guffey said.

“I still hold hope that sentencing will send a message to all those that choose to extort American children and that they will face justice,” he added.

Lawal faces 15 to 30 years on the production charge and up to life for cyberstalking.