Latest Offenders

Description

A former Tunbridge Wells resident who used social media apps in attempts to groom children for sexual abuse has been jailed for seven years.

Gareth Lucas repeatedly sent explicit images to the profiles of two children he believed were only 14 years old.

Operating under the alias of ‘Garfuncle Lucas’, between 2 August and 13 November 2019 he accessed Facebook and instant messaging apps to seek out and contact victims.

Despite receiving several replies, clearly stating they were 14 and were at school, Lucas bombarded two children with messages of an explicit nature, urging them to engage in sexual activity and to send him indecent images.

Lucas also made efforts to meet one of them in Sevenoaks, where he planned to carry out abuse on a train.

Phone hacking claims

Unbeknown to him, the children did not exist – their profiles were linked to fictitious accounts. He was arrested in Tunbridge Wells on 12 November 2019 and taken into custody.

During police interviews, Lucas initially denied responsibility and claimed his phone ‘had been hacked’.

At Maidstone Crown Court, he admitted two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and three counts of attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity.

Lucas denied a further charge of attempting to arrange or facilitate the commission of a child sex offence but was found guilty following a trial.

On Friday 22 September 2023, Lucas, 31, of Hollingworth Road, Maidstone was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment, with an extended licence period of four years.

Upon his release from custody, he will be subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order. He was also added to the sex offender register for life.

Hugely concerning

Detective Constable Carl Evans, of the Paedophile Online Investigation Team, said: ‘Lucas made persistent and repeated efforts to contact children for the purposes of his own gratification. He has displayed a clear desire to meet and abuse them, and the graphic detail and demands he included in his messages was hugely concerning.'This case also acts as a reminder to parents of children who have mobile phones and tablets to speak to them and help them understand the precautions they should take when using the internet, or the many instant messaging services that are available.'Children should only communicate with people that they know personally and report any suspicions or inappropriate advances from strangers to their parents, schools, or the police.’

Description

A SCHOOLGIRL subjected to grooming behaviour and unwanted sexual touching by a 55-year-old west Cumbrian man bravely told a court how the offending changed her life.

At Carlisle Crown Court, Paul Henderson listened in silence as the teenager described the devastating impact of his crime. 

At an earlier hearing before magistrates, the defendant, of Firth View Walk, Workington, pleaded guilty to a charge of sexually touching the girl over her clothing.

Prosecutor Paul Brookwell outlined the facts.

On the day of the sexual assault, said the barrister, Henderson initially began “joking around” with the girl but the teenager later reported that his facial expression suddenly changed, and he began touching her sexually.

He suggested the girl she liked what he was doing - but the teenager ran away and immediately reported what happened to a friend.

A short time later, there was then a confrontation between people who were made aware of the offence and the defendant, with Henderson telling them: “I don’t know what came over me; I am so sorry.”

He then drove into the Lake District, feeling suicidal and guilty after admitting what he had done, said Mr Brookwell. Henderson’s family reported him missing.

Twelve hours later, when police found him, he told the officers: “I’ve done something I should not have done.”

At the police station, he made full admissions and accepted the teenager’s account of what he had done. Before touching the girl, the defendant told her that he wished he too was a teenager so he could spend a day with her.

Everybody in the court, including the girl's family, listened as the teenager stood in the witness stand and read her victim impact statement, outlining the impact of the offending. She wanted Henderson to hear her account as she faced him across the courtoom. 

“Since this incident,” she began, “I have been anxious about everything – even leaving the house." Whenever she sees a bald white man – a reference to the defendant – her stomach jumps and she begins to feel sick and shakes, she said.

She was unable to shut what happened from her mind. “I just don’t feel safe,” the teenager told the court, recalling how the memory of defendant’s face - which became "serious and creepy' as he committed the offence - kept replaying in her mind.

“It can happen any time but is normally worse at night,” she continued. “I feel scared and get a knot in my stomach."

Daniel Bramhall, defending, said the defendant had never before been before a court and he felt ashamed of his behaviour and disgusted with himself.

“This behaviour is completely out of character,” said the barrister.

“He simply does not have an explanation for what happened. He accepts it was a foolish and stupid mistake but can’t give any explanation for why the offence took place. He has suffered from issues with his mental health.

“He is supported by his family, who remain supportive of him with the full knowledge of what took place.”

Character references painted a different picture of Henderson to the man who committed the offence.

Though his family did not condone what Henderson had done, they spoke of his reliability and how he continues to be there for them.

Mr Bramhall added that the defendant had been assessed as posing a low risk of reoffending and he presented a realistic prospect for rehabilitation. “He is absolutely terrified of going to prison,” added the barrister.

Recorder Eric Lamb told the defendant: “You have been in court to hear the consequences of your selfish sexual act.” The victim was vulnerable and the impact on her was abundantly clear from the statement.

The judge accepted Henderson felt remorse but noted the "element of grooming" in his behaviour before he committed the sexual assault. Recorder Lamb imposed a six-month jail term, suspended 18 months, saying that rehabilitation work with the Probation Service would provide wider protection for society.

The defendant will be on the Sex Offender Register for seven years and subjected to a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.

Description

A former sports coach from Portsmouth who supplied naked images of swimming pupils to an Australian paedophile has been convicted.

Terry Neale, aged 55, was identified after a contact of his, Stephen Porter, was arrested in June 2020 by officers from the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

Porter was convicted of child sexual exploitation offences in September last year and jailed for 20 years. The pair had known each other for more than 20 years and met up in Australia when Porter was coaching youth Australian football players.

AFP officers recovered videos taken by Neale in 2013 of a young boy getting dressed after bathing at his house. Neale can be seen speaking with the child and providing towels.

Other videos shared by Neale showed pupils getting changed at swimming pools in the Portsmouth area. In one video, Neale appears to place a bag on a bench and adjusts a hidden camera. He’s then seen walking around the changing room and talking to naked boys.

In further videos of children’s swimming lessons, taken with a hidden camera in August 2013, Neale is wearing wet clothing and goggles, suggesting he has been in the water with pupils.

He was employed by a swimming school at the time and also worked as a local amateur youth football coach for various teams, none of which had knowledge of his offending until it was discovered by the AFP.

The victims in the UK videos have been spoken to and safeguarded.

Neale was arrested by NCA officers at his home address in January 2021.

He appeared at Winchester Crown Court today (27 September) where he pleaded guilty to voyeurism and indecent images of children offences (possessing and making).

One count of arranging / facilitating the sexual exploitation of a child under 13 and two counts of possessing extreme pornographic images will lie on file.

He is due to be sentenced at the same court on 15 January 2024.

NCA Operations Manager Martin Ludlow said: "Terry Neale flagrantly abused the position of trust he’d held in the community in the most shocking way.

"He should have been someone to be looked up to and admired, but instead he preyed on innocent young children to satisfy his and Stephen Porter’s sexual gratification. His offending was cowardly and devious.

"The NCA will continue to do all it can, in collaboration with international partners like the Australian Federal Police, to pursue offenders like Neale and protect the victims of online child sexual abuse."

Description

A sex offender's last minute trip to Amsterdam nearly landed him in prison.

Ellis Cunningham is a convicted rapist who sexually abused a girl he met on Facebook. Despite repeatedly and regularly flouting conditions which have been imposed upon him in order to protect the public, a judge today gave him "one last chance".

Liverpool Crown Court heard on Friday that the 26-year-old was convicted of rape in 2016 after having sexual activity with a 12-year-old girl following contact on the social media network. Joshua Sanderson-Kirk, prosecuting, described how Ellis was handed a 24-month imprisonment suspended for 10 years, as well as a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and a notification requirement last the same period.

The latter order requires him to notify police of any foreign travel at least a week prior to departure. But the force was alerted that he had re-entered the country on February 13 this year after spending four days in Amsterdam.

Cunningham, of Burley Close in Kirkby, later made a "full and frank admission" after voluntarily attending a police station. He has eight previous convictions for nine offences, including breaching the requirements of the sex offenders' register on six occasions in 2017, 2018, and 2021 which have seen him serve short prison sentences on several occasions.

The court was told that he had obtained his passport only five weeks before his visit to the Netherlands, and that the defendant claimed he had only been invited onto the trip abroad at five days' notice. Charles Lander, defending, conceded that his client had "unimpressive antecedents for similar offences" but highlight his full-time, self-employed role as a specialist groundworker providing services in relation to BT's WiFi coverage.

He added: "He can be and is a viable member of society. He understands his stupidity."

Cunningham admitted failing to comply with the sex offenders' register. He was handed a 12-month imprisonment suspended for 18 months plus 80 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 10 days.

Sentencing, Judge Stuart Driver KC said: "It is a matter of public concern that a man subject to notification requirements travels to another country where he is not subject to any supervision. This is a serious and deliberate breach and there are no excuses.

"You knew exactly what you were doing. With your experience with the courts, you knew what the consequences could be.

"Letters from your family speak of the progress you have made and your good employment. With hesitation, I am going to give you one last chance, but I mean last.

"If I see you again, you are going through that door. I am not convinced by you. I won't be the slightest bit surprised if I see you again in the next 18 months. If I do, you are getting that full sentence immediately."

Description

A man has been jailed for sexually assaulting a young girl. Gary Blount appeared at Swansea Crown Court for sentencing having been found guilty by a jury after trial of two counts of sexual assault of a child under the age of 13.

Defence barrister Ian Ibrahim, representing Blount, said: "He had a number of successful businesses and was the main income for his family. He was a sound technician, he would do lighting and events, security, and a number of other things. That's all gone now. He is in custody, and was reduced to living with his parents.

"His relationships have gone, his businesses have gone. These offences were seven or eight years ago and there has been no offending since. He suffers from anxiety and depression and is on suicide watch now."

Sentencing Blount, his honour judge Geraint Walters said: "You had denied all guilt but were convicted by a jury. The pre-sentence report indicates that you deny your guilt, something you are entitled to do. You have a relevant previous conviction in the way of two sexual offences which you were sentenced to 18 months imprisonment in 2018.

You were at that time required to register as a sex offender for 10 years and sign a sexual harm prevention order for a similar period of time. The date span of the offending in 2018 is such that it overlaps the date span of the offending in this particular case. You have shown no remorse in relation to the offending the jury found proved. It has had a significant affect upon the victim."

Blount, 44, of Cwmfelin Boeth, Whitland, was sentenced to five years in prison, and an indefinite restraining order was made preventing him from coming into contact with the victim.

Description

Ex-pub manager Mark Smith has been jailed for eight years after sexually abusing a schoolgirl. The 52-year-old - who used to run The Black Horse, in Chesterton - had always denied seven charges of sexual assault and two charges of assault by penetration.

But he was found guilty of all nine charges by a jury at his trial earlier this month. He was jailed at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court yesterday.

The court heard that Smith - of Lincoln Road, Cobridge - had grabbed the teenager's breasts and thighs, kissed her, and touched her breasts and bottom. He once exposed himself to his victim and told her he wanted to have sex with her 'whether she wanted it or not' and on another occasion sexually assaulted her at a 'creepy old park and building.

The abuse has had a profound effect on the victim. She said: "I am constantly looking over my shoulder to see where he is. This is not my fault. It is all his.

Darron Whitehead, mitigating, said: "He knows it is to be a custodial sentence measured in years. He knows he will be on the Sex Offenders' Register and subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO)."

The defendant will be subject to the Sex Offenders' Register and his SHPO indefinitely. He must serve two-thirds of his prison sentence before he is released.

Recorder Anthony Warner told Smith: "You threatened her and told her she would not be believed. Your threats worked as she never told anyone at all about what you were doing."

Description

A paedophile has been jailed after he travelled more than 100 miles to meet an underage girl which turned out to be a police decoy.

Leslie Gearing, 78, went from his home in McKenzie Road, Chatham, to Central Park in Peterborough on February 20 after arranging to meet up with a 13-year-old girl.

He began grooming the “girl” online in December, exchanging messages and sending multiple sexually-explicit images.

He asked all traces be cleared of their conversations and said any photos he received would be put in an encrypted folder on his computer’s hard drive.

He complimented the girl’s appearance but unbeknown to him he was speaking to an undercover police officer. Gearing said she was a “very pretty girl” and he wanted to take naked photos of her and have sex.

He was arrested upon his arrival in Peterborough in a pre-planned operation carried out by members of the Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT).

A search of the man’s car found child-size underwear, sex toys and camera equipment.

More than 30,000 indecent images of children were discovered on different devices in his home and a further examination found more sexual communications with children and adults, with some attempts to arrange sexual activities with minors.

On Monday (September 18), at Cambridge Crown Court, Gearing was jailed for three years and 11 months.

He pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent photographs of a child, three counts of attempted sexual communication with a child and two counts of causing a child aged 13 to 15 to watch or look at an image of sexual activity.

He also admitted two counts of distributing an indecent photograph of a child, one count of possession of an extreme pornographic image and one count of attempting to meet a child under 16 following grooming.

Gearing was found guilty of a further count of attempting to meet a child under 16 following grooming and this was ordered to lie on file.

DC Cheryl Lee, from the POLIT, said: “Gearing, through his self-serving depravity, was prepared to travel more than 100 miles with no care for the physical and emotional damage he would have caused by engaging in sexual activity with an underage child.

“The items he brought with him show just how much of a risk he poses to children. Thankfully he has been exposed and caught and will be held accountable for his actions.

Description

A man has been jailed after he urinated on a train seat, chucked the seat cushion in a man’s face and sexually assaulted a woman. 

Harry Burgess, 25, was travelling on a train to New Eltham with friends on April 4 when he started acting up. 

At one point in the journey he exposed his genitals in full view of other passengers and urinated on a seat. 

He then threw the cushion at a male passenger, hitting him in the face. 

Then at New Eltham station he sexually assaulted a woman as she boarded the service. 

Detective Constable Matt Smart said "Burgess’ loutish and crude behaviour was humiliating and intimidating for the woman he singled out. 

“He is now serving time behind bars for his pathetic attempts to impress the friends he was travelling with. Sexual assault and violence of any kind is no joke as Burgess can now testify.” 

Burgess, of Brodrick Grove in Greenwich, pleaded guilty to sexual assault and assault by beating at Bromley Magistrates’ Court. 

On Monday (September 18) he was jailed for 24 weeks and handed a five-year sexual harm prevention order. 

He was also ordered to pay a £154 surcharge. 

DC Smart said: “We take all reports of sexual harassment and unwanted sexual behaviour seriously and will support victims throughout our investigations. 

Description

Anthony Maina, 52, of Allen Road, Stoke Newington, was sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court on Thursday, after being found guilty of 17 offences, including seven counts of rape.

The court heard how Maina exploited a position of trust to groom the girl, buying her gifts, clothing, food and mobile phones in a bid to normalise the abuse he was carrying out.

He referred to the victim as “his girl” and his “best friend in the universe”, and would regularly accuse her of having “neglected” him if she did not maintain contact.

Maina would isolate her from all of those around her to knock away at her confidence to prevent her from questioning what he was doing.

He would ask the survivor to come to his property under false pretences, such as to receive a parcel or let some workmen in, and would then abuse her.

When she began to challenge this, he would suggest to her other family members she was being unhelpful, to in effect force her to come to his property.

Description

Nigel Dickens, 69, had images of children as young as four being raped and abused.

Dickens, of New Road in Camborne, appeared at Truro Crown Court for sentence having pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children and possessing extreme pornography. Prosecuting barrister Ramsay Quaife told the court how in August 2021, acting on information, police executed a search warrant at Dickens' home. They took away with them a laptop and memory stick which were both examined and indecent images found.

The collection assembled between 2017 and 2021 included, on the laptop, 20 Category A images - the most serious kind -, 12 Category B images and nearly 1,400 Category C. Also found were 52 extreme pornography images and on the memory stick a further 175 Category C images. There was also evidence of searches indicative of those seeking child abuse images.

Mr Quaife told the court the images including some featuring "very young children being raped". The youngest victim in the images was four years old. Dickens answered no comment in interview.

Representing Dickens, Robin Smith said that his client pleaded guilty from the beginning and that his arrest was more than two years ago and there was no suggestion of any further offending.

Sitting as judge, Recorder Andrew Oldland, KC, ruled that Dickens' perversions would be best treated in the community rather than in prison where he would receive no intervention during a short sentence. He said: "You are very fortunate not to have gone to prison." Dickens was given a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years. He must also complete a rehabilitation activity requirement and be subject of a 15 year sexual harm prevention order. Dickens must also pay £500 court costs.

Description

A man from Fife has been jailed after pleading guilty to possessing indecent images of children.

Officers searched Grant McAuley’s home address in Dunfermline in July 2022 and found several hundred stills and videos on devices belonging to him.

He was arrested and the 24-year-old pleaded guilty at Dunfermline Sheriff Court in August this year to offences relating to the possession and distribution of indecent images.

He was jailed for two years when he appeared for sentencing on Thursday, 21 September.

Detective Inspector Adrian Ure, of Police Scotland’s National Child Abuse Investigation Unit, said: “Grant McAuley’s offending and behaviour was appalling. He showed utter contempt for the child victims and the horrific sexual abuse they suffered, in the images and videos he was viewing and sharing.

“In committing these crimes, McAuley believed that his online offending would go undetected. However, there is no hiding place, and as a result of our investigation he will now rightly face a custodial sentence and the consequences of his actions.”

"Any form of child sexual abuse is a serious criminal offence and is a priority for Police Scotland. We encourage anyone with concerns about a child at risk of abuse, or a potential victim, to contact police immediately.”

Description

A man from Swindon has been found guilty of multiple counts of raping a young girl during a "horrific" and "traumatic ordeal". Matthew Vandross, 30, of Homington Avenue, was found guilty by a jury following a five-date trial at Salisbury Crown Court of raping a child under the age of 13 four times.

The offences took place between October 2020 and May 2021 and Wiltshire Police said the victim was under 10 years old when she reported the incidents to the police, accompanied by a friend who had seen what she had been through. Detective Constable Mel Neal, from the Child Abuse Investigation Team, said Vandross had abused the victim in the "worst and most horrific way".

DC Neal added a personal tribute to the two children involved for "extreme bravery and courage beyond their years", despite their ordeal. "Working within the Child Abuse Investigation Team, we come to work every day to protect people like these two girls and secure some form of justice for them," she added.

Vandross is due to be sentenced on November 15. He was found guilty of sexual assault by touching, 21 counts of digital penetration and four charges of rape of a child under 13.

DC Neal said: "Since the beginning of this investigation, we have worked closely with partner agencies to ensure the victims in this case received the appropriate support and safeguarding they required. This predatory offender took advantage of a vulnerable child and abused her in the worst and most horrific way. Not only that, but he made horrific threats towards her if she dared report his offending to police.

"I would like to personally pay tribute to the two children involved in this case – it is thanks to their bravery that we secured a successful prosecution. Both girls have shown extreme bravery and courage beyond their years, despite enduring such a traumatic ordeal. Working within the Child Abuse Investigation Team, we come to work every day to protect people like these two girls and secure some form of justice for them.

"I would urge anyone who has been a victim of sex abuse to report it to police – no matter how much time has passed since the offences took place. We are committed to targeting dangerous offenders like Vandross and will do everything we can to ensure they are put before the courts."

Description

A Derby man raped a woman as she slept. Derby Crown Court heard how David Smith took advantage of the victim as she lay vulnerable and that she kept the sex attack secret for a number of years.

When she told the police, the now 53-year-old, of Allenton, was arrested, questioned and charged. And in his pre-sentence report, the defendant showed what his interviewing officers described as “an entrenched attitude” in believing he had done nothing wrong.

Jailing him for seven and a half years, Recorder Adrian Reynolds said: “When a judge has to sentence in a case like this he or she has to take into account a number of things. Primarily, and I mean primarily, there is the extent to which you have ruined (the victim’s) life and the enormity of that has to be factored in.

“She has waited a long time to get justice and I hope she feels she will get justice. But on the other hand you have pleaded guilty to this and one thing that definitely does mean is that you have spared her having to give evidence and that means you will get credit because other people in the same position as you don't plead guilty and face their victims when they come to court and relive their horrors, being accused of lying, and that makes their ordeal immeasurably worse.

“You haven’t done that. But what you did do is degrade and undermine her self-esteem, undermined her self-confidence and in her own words you have shown a complete lack of empathy. The fact is that although you have pleaded guilty to this matter you have not expressed any genuine remorse. You are a man in your 50s now and you have never been to prison before.”

Smith, of Mowbray Street, pleaded guilty to rape. Lauren Fisher, mitigating, said that meant that the victim did not have to come to court and give evidence.

She said: “Of course this is an immediate custodial sentence, he has been aware of that since day one. He is well-supported by his family who have attended the vast majority of the hearings in this court.

“There are references from various members of his family and they speak of a different man to the one who appears before the court today.”

As well as the jail term, Recorder Reynolds told Smith he will be on the sex offender register for life. He will serve two thirds of that sentence - five years - before he will be released.

Description

A paedophile whose actions left one of his victims unable to trust men, even her own dad and grandad, has been jailed. Anthony Hemmings sexually abused two teenage girls between 2003 and 2008 on a number of occasions.

Hemmings, 69 and from Yate, denied abusing either of the girls. However, he was found guilty by a jury of: indecent assault on a girl under the age of 14, gross indecency with a girl under the age of 16, engaging in non-penetrative sexual activity with a girl aged between 13 and 15, and two counts of assaulting a girl under the age of 13 by touching.

During a sentencing hearing, Hemmings was jailed for 33 months, with a judge taking into account his current ill-health. Upon his release, he will be subject to indefinite notification requirements as a registered sex offender.

Avon and Somerset Police said both victims, now in their 20s, approached officers separately to report the abuse they received at the hands of Hemmings. During a court hearing, one of his victims read out a statement saying Hemmings' abuse had left her unable to trust other men, even those related to her.

She said: "My relationship with my own father and grandfather changed. After these things had started happening I distanced myself from them both.

"This is a huge thing for me as I wish I could go back and rebuild that relationship with my grandfather as he has now died and I can’t get it back. I just found it hard to trust male figures in my life after [the defendant] did what he did."

She also explained how her mental health deteriorated to the point where she dropped out of education. She said: "The inability to pursue further education has left me with unfulfilled potential and longing for the opportunities that should have been within reach."

'Profound and lasting impact of trauma'

The victim went onto say the trauma from the abuse has left her feeling distressed when she sees an adult hugging a child. "There is a profound and lasting impact this childhood trauma has had on my life," she said.

"The emotional and psychological wounds inflicted during those critical years echo throughout my existence, impairing relationships, eroding confidence and severing ties. I am grateful that I have been listened to, that I have been believed, and aim to heal the wounds that this traumatic experience has left behind."

Hemmings' other victim spoke of how the abuse she suffered stopped her from socialising and ended with her seeking medical help for anxiety and depression. She said: "I kept that secret with me and over the years I was finding it harder and harder to deal with.

"I spoke to numerous people on the Childline website. They told me I needed to report this crime, but I found it hard to come out and tell people what happened to me. I used to have night terrors and there were numerous times that I woke up in the middle of the night, and even throughout the day, thinking of what happened to me and knowing it wasn’t right."

While sentencing Hemmings, Judge Peter Blair KC said the personal statements clearly showed the long lasting impact the actions of adults like the defendant have when they commit offences against children. Speaking after sentencing, officer in the case Detective Sergeant Tom Williams: "I sincerely admire the strength the women have shown in coming forward. They have each spoken movingly about the impact Hemmings’ actions have had on their lives.

"Hemmings kept his real character hidden from his family. He acted for his own gratification without regard for anyone else, and did so repeatedly.

"I hope that the sentence handed down today will reassure the women that other children will be kept safe from Anthony Hemmings. I also hope that the case will give confidence to anyone else who has suffered sexual abuse to know they will be listened to and offences will be thoroughly investigated.

"If you have experienced sexual abuse, no matter when, do please seek help. Get in touch with The Bridge sexual assault referral centre. They offer counselling, medical care and practical help all day, every day, and it will still be your choice whether or not to contact the police."

Description

A man who posed as a teenage girl online to get dozens of young boys to send indecent pictures of themselves, before blackmailing them into sending more has been jailed for 21 years.

Jay Lang, 24, of Driftway, Basildon, Essex, set up accounts on Snapchat and Instagram under a pseudonym, claiming to be a 16-year-old girl, Basildon Crown Court was told.

Marc Brown, prosecuting, said Lang ‘would target young boys aged between 11 to 16 using these social media profiles to first of all engage those young boys in conversation’.

‘Those conversations would develop, at first flirtatious conversation, then to more sexually-explicit conversation,’ he said.

He said it would lead to Lang inciting the victims to send indecent videos and photos of themselves.

The prosecutor said that ‘unbeknown to each of the victims’ the defendant was using a screen-recording app on his phone and would save the images, and later use them to blackmail the boys.

Lang would reveal himself as a man and ask for further images or demand cash, threatening to publish the images the boys had already sent if they did not comply.

He sexually abused one of the boys in person after they felt they had no choice but to agree to his request to meet, the prosecutor said.

Lang also blackmailed another boy into filming himself performing a sex act with a male friend, the court heard.

‘He would use the threat of exposing the videos if they refused,’ Mr Brown said.

‘In the case of some victims he did indeed publish the videos.’

He said the offending spanned around three years, from 2019 to 2021.

‘The offending came to light in November 2021 when one of the victims reported what happened to him to police,’ the prosecutor said.

Police analysis of Lang’s phone identified 540 videos and 140,000 images, with 220 potential victims identified.

‘As a result of all of these inquiries, some 26 victims provided evidential accounts,’ the prosecutor said.

He detailed each of these accounts, with one victim telling how he was sent a selfie-style image of a topless teenage girl – who the boy thought he was speaking with.

Lang’s fake social media account said it was ‘only fair’ that the boy should send an image back, which the victim did with an image of his genitals, the prosecutor said.

The account requested further images and video of the boy performing a sex act.

When the boy tried to cease contact with the account, Lang got in touch via a separate account revealing himself as a man and threatened to share the images with the boy’s friends and family.

‘He felt he had no choice but to resume contact with the account,’ the prosecutor said.

The defendant asked to meet in person and the boy agreed to due to the threats of publishing the images, Mr Brown said.

He said Lang drove the boy to a secluded location in a van and sexually abused him.

The boy said in a victim impact statement read to the court that the abuse ’caused me to have suicidal thoughts on a daily basis’ and he had tried to kill himself several times.

Referring to another victim, the prosecutor said Lang ‘demanded £2,000 or the images would be posted on Facebook’.

Lang admitted at an earlier hearing to 46 offences, including causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, blackmail and causing or inciting child sexual exploitation.

He also admitted to arranging or facilitating commission of a child sex offence and to causing or inciting child prostitution of pornography.

Judge Samantha Cohen, jailing Lang for 21 years with an extended licence period of six years afterwards, told him: ‘You are a predatory, manipulative and dangerous young man.

‘You have wreaked havoc through the lives of 26 young men and their families.’

She said he was ‘aroused by the power and control’ the offending gave him and that it caused ‘anxiety, depression, sleeplessness and suicide attempts’.

The judge said it was ‘compulsive conduct over three years’ and had happened despite him being in a ‘permanent relationship’ at the time and having fathered a child.

Lang was made subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for the rest of his life.

The defendant mouthed ‘thank you’ to the judge as he was led from the secure dock to the cells.

Nick Bonehill, mitigating, said Lang had pleaded guilty to the offences, avoiding the need for a trial.

He added: ‘Through me, he apologises to each and every victim.’

Essex Police said it was the largest child exploitation investigation the force has ever undertaken and the judge praised their work as a ‘tour de force’.

Detective Sergeant Ben Rushmere, who leads the child sexual exploitation proactive investigation team, said: ‘Today’s sentence rightly highlights the true scale of Lang’s horrific offending.

‘He used social media to prey upon young people and exploit them either for financial gain or for his own gratification.’

He said he wanted to ‘commend each and every victim, and their families, who came forward and worked with us’.

‘It is only with their candour and support that we have been able to build a case so strong that Lang was left with no other option but to admit 46 extremely serious offences.’