Doncaster pervert who blackmailed young girls to send indecent images jailed

Daniel Carr, 27, of Violet Avenue, Edlington met the victims - who were aged between 15 and 25 - via social networking sites between 2020 and 2022.

During this time he hacked the social media accounts of a number of victims, before using the accounts to make threats to other victims, stating they must hand over cash, send further explicit images, or perform sexual acts on camera, otherwise he would leak explicit images he had of them to family and friends.

The court heard how in April 2022, Carr hacked the Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok accounts of a 17-year-old boy.

Once he had successfully gained access to the accounts, Carr used the hacked accounts to message a number of girls and women from the account requesting they send him explicit images.

After this was reported to police, further investigations by officers found that on a series of earlier occasions between 2020 and 2022, Carr hacked the social media accounts of a number of other victims.

On several occasions he made threats to victims, stating they must hand over cash, send further explicit images, or perform sexual acts on camera, otherwise he would leak explicit images he had of them to family and friends.

In one instance, he forced a 15-year-old girl to perform sexual acts on camera after he struck up a fake online relationship with her using a hacked social media account.

DC Adrian Love, investigating officer, said: “The offences committed in this case are vile and have been truly distressing for the victims. Carr used multiple social media accounts in an attempt to conceal his identity and blackmail his victims into sharing explicit images of them.

"This case has involved a vast amount of digital forensic work but without the victims’ bravery in coming forward, Carr could not have been brought to justice.

“I hope the sentence handed down provides them with a sense of justice and that they can now move on with their lives and put these incidents behind them."

DC Love added: “Online sexual offences, against both children and adults, are damaging in the extreme and I would urge people to report such crimes to police so they can be investigated. Victims will be listened to and should know there are many avenues of support available. We will always do everything we can to bring those responsible to justice.”

Carr pleaded guilty to 16 charges at Sheffield Crown Court on 19 December 2022.

These included four counts of blackmail, four counts of disclose or threatening to disclose private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress, and one count of causing a female 13 or over to engage in a non-penetrative sexual activity.

He was remanded into custody and was sentenced to six years in prison at Sheffield Crown Court this week.

He has also been handed a sexual harm prevention order preventing him from committing further online sexual offences, and has been placed on the sexual offenders register for an indefinite period.

If you have been a victim of crime, you can report this by calling 101 or reporting online. Information can also be reported anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.

Advice and support around online child sexual abuse and exploitation can be found via the CEOP website.

Advice on how to secure your social media and email accounts to avoid the chances of being hacked can be found on the SYP website.