Catfish paedophile targeted more than 30 children
Northumbria PoliceA catfishing paedophile who targeted more than 30 children online has been jailed for four years and five months.
Daniel Lee, 29, solicited sexual photos and videos from girls as young as 12 on various social media sites and pretended to be a teenage girl to get images from boys, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
The National Crime Agency found thousands of messages sent by Lee over an 18-month period after being tipped off by X, formerly Twitter, and US authorities.
Lee, of Wallsend, North Tyneside, admitted 45 offences including causing children to engage in sexual activity.
Prosecutor Emma Dowling said seven victims were spoken to by police in the UK but there were many more that could not be identified including children in Italy, Germany and Denmark.
She said Lee offered children payment in exchange for sexually graphic pictures and videos and he groomed some of his victims, whom he targeted on social media sites including X, TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat between 2021 and 2022.
'High risk'
Lee, of St Peter's Road, would ask children their age and often messages turned sexual very quickly, the court heard.
On some occasions he spent several weeks building an "emotional relationship" with his victims before asking them for nude pictures and videos of them performing sex acts, Ms Dowling said.
He posed as a teenage girl to contact young teenage boys, Ms Dowling said, adding he was a "catfish", a term used to describe someone masquerading as another person online.
Indecent images were found on his phone including 97 in the most serious category which included one featuring a toddler, the court heard.
In mitigation, the court heard Lee had a learning disability and had committed no more offences since his arrest in 2022.
Judge Penny Moreland said Lee posed a "high risk of serious harm" to children.
Lee was also made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order to limit his internet usage indefinitely and must sign the sex offenders' register for life.
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