The Online Sextortion of Mac Holdsworth

Meshel Laurie (0:00)

The following podcast contains accounts of child sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised.

This is Australian True Crime with Meshel Laurie. In 2022, teenager Mac Holdsworth was the victim of an online sexual extortion scam. A stranger posing as a teenage girl convinced Mac to send a nude photo, then threatened to share it with his friends and family unless he paid. The results of that night were catastrophic.

Mac's father, Wayne Holdsworth, has since dedicated himself to telling Mac's story. He founded SmackTalk, a charity focused on suicide prevention and online safety and now works to educate young people, parents and communities about the dangers of online sexual extortion. This is Australian True Crime. We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which this podcast is created, the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation.

Wayne Holdsworth (1:01)

I wouldn't say I'm an expert. If I'd known then what I know now, Mack would be alive.

Meshel Laurie (1:07)

Okay.

Wayne Holdsworth (1:08)

Without doubt.

Meshel Laurie (1:09)

That's, well, you're an incredible resource then to share with us what you mean when you say that. Tell us about Mack.

Wayne Holdsworth (1:16)

Mack was, when he was growing up, when he was in primary school, loved sport. He loved his mates.

He would go to school, not for school, but for his mates.

Meshel Laurie (1:29)

Yeah.

Wayne Holdsworth (1:29)

And lunchtime to kick the footy, to play basketball particularly. And he loved the camaraderie. He was a really good runner, long distance runner, not short distance. And I remember once when he would do well normally running, and he was in a cross country and he ran, and he went out of sight and I was waiting at the end thinking he'd been the top couple, no, Mac. And we waited and waited, all the kids came in and he wasn't there. So I said to one of the kids, have you seen Mac that knew him? And he said, I think he's way back there somewhere helping some kid. So I said, all right. So I jogged back with this other dad, and we found Mac with this other boy. This other boy had stumbled, and Mac had picked him up and stayed with him because he was really sore, his ankle was sore.

In the car later, I said to him, Mac, what did you do that? He said, Dad, you told me that there was an Olympian in 1956, and he didn't know his name, it's Herb Elliott, that was in a race and his opponent fell over.

This is in the Olympic Games. And he stopped, picked him up, got him up and then chased and he won the gold medal. That's what I wanted to do. But I couldn't run because I had to stay with the kid because he was crying.

Meshel Laurie (2:51)

Yeah. Oh, that's so sweet because what he could have done pragmatically is say, help him up.

Wayne Holdsworth (2:57)

Yeah.

Meshel Laurie (2:58)

Keep going with the race, I'll send someone back for you.

Wayne Holdsworth (3:00)

Yeah, that's right. I'll be back in 10 minutes, just sit tight. So he was a caring kid.

Meshel Laurie (3:03)

Yeah.

Wayne Holdsworth (3:04)

Deep down he was caring. When he became a bit older, he continued to play basketball and footy. They were his two go-tos. He didn't like school that much, except again for the camaraderie in secondary college. But then he wanted to do an apprenticeship. And we got him, that's all that sorted through some connections.

It was at about that same time that he got sexually extorted. He was nearly 16, 15, turning 16

And it was at that point that he changed significantly.

Meshel Laurie (3:36)

So you noticed something was wrong.

Wayne Holdsworth (3:39)

Yeah, straight away. Yeah. And I noticed that he became introverted, he became withdrawn, he wouldn't come out of his room often, like for long periods of time. And I'd knock and I'd say, is everything all right, mate? I'm fine, dad. If he said, I'm fine, dad, once, he said it a million times.

He used to write these cards for Christmas, birthdays and father's days to me. And there'd be a four-piece of paper folded over. And on the front of the piece of paper was a picture and he'd draw something. Him and I kicking the footy in the street or shooting hoops in the backyard. But then he'd open, I'd open it up and say, dear dad, and he'd write the most beautiful things about maybe some of the things we did or his love. And then he'd finish off with, I love you, dad.

And I carry them with me everywhere. September, 2023, four weeks before he took his life was Father's Day.