The parents of Ronan Hughes have shown immense courage in the days since their beloved son took his own life after being blackmailed by online criminals.
In the midst of unimaginable grief and suffering, Gerard and Teresa Hughes have been determined to warn other families of the dark side of the internet and the appalling dangers facing unsuspecting teenagers using social media.
They have sent out a firm message through Ronan's school, St Joseph's, Donaghmore and through their parish priest, Fr Benedict Fee, who told mourners at his funeral last Tuesday that ``wicked people took advantage of his youth and beauty, they exploited him and they broke him.''
This disturbing case has received widespread media coverage which is understandable given the circumstances of Ronan's tragic death and the pervasive nature of social media in young people's lives.
Now Ronan's parents have decided to reveal more details about the ruthless way in which their 17-year-old son was targeted, the attempt to extort more than £3,000 and the threat to send an intimate image of him to his Facebook friends.
This was a despicable crime traced back to a site in Nigeria which has now been closed down.
It is clear from their moving account of Ronan's last days that their terrified son did the right thing and told his parents about the online bullying.
They immediately went to the police but are critical of how this matter was dealt with by the PSNI, who told the family to ignore the blackmail deadline.
They said they waited for the police to contact them and were disappointed by the lack of response.
Ronan died shortly after he found out the online blackmailers had gone through with their threat.
Nothing can bring this young man back but it must be hoped that parents everywhere talk to their children about this case and about online dangers.
The police must also review their handling of this matter in the light of the Hughes family's comments.
