2 University of Colorado students who broke high school "sextortion" story react to news of arrest
Two freshman journalism students at the University of Colorado Boulder's College of Media, Communication and Information are getting ready to take finals after their first semester, but they already have real-world experience it takes some years to get.
Last year Aiyana Fragoso and Carrie Ames were seniors at Rangeview High School in Aurora when they noticed their peers seemed to be captivated by a recently created Instagram account.
"It was insane. Our entire cafeteria, our commons, everybody's phone was out. Everybody was talking about it," said Fragoso.
They say the account was posting sexually explicit pictures of Aurora teens. Back then, Ames and Fragoso were writing for the Rangeview Raider Review, their school's newspaper.
By the time they got to that period of their school day, the page had gained so many followers they knew they had to publish a story.
"We were united that this is something that, like, is affecting all of us. This needs to be talked about," said Ames.
"I didn't know if it could be reported on just because it is so ... it is like an inappropriate story, especially for a high school. And so, I kind of had to run it by my teacher," said Fragoso.
They say their teacher encouraged them, so they forged ahead. Shortly after, it became more than just a story in their school newspaper. Local media outlets including CBS News Colorado reported the story largely thanks to their reporting.
"It was kind of like an exhilarating week and story to break originally," said Ames.
As the year wore on, the story died down and they graduated and went to college, both at CU Boulder. Then, this week there was a full circle moment.
"My journalism teacher in high school, he texted me and he was like, 'Hey this story that you covered, they finally found somebody,'" said Fragoso.
Aurora police arrested 18-year-old Jamir Deante Bright on two charges related to child exploitation and one charge related to criminal extortion as well as two minors they say were his accomplices.
Fragoso and Ames say that took them by surprise but proved to them that telling victim's stories can change the world.
"I feel like I actually like, helped the community," said Ames.
Fragoso and Ames say their experience solidified for them that this is what they want to spend their lives doing.
"It kind of embodied for me, like, the importance of journalism. Like, how much ... one story can make so many people feel seen or basically can feel represented," said Fragoso.
Ames says she also has an interest in Political Science. She would love to be a spokesperson for a political candidate or officeholder one day, while Fragoso says she wants to anchor newscasts in Denver.
