Man who blackmailed girl, 12, into sending explicit images on snapchat jailed

A man has been jailed after blackmailing a 12-year-old girl into sending explicit photos to him through snapchat.

39-year-old James Michael David Webber from Selby threatened to harm the young girls family, claiming that he could see where she lived as her location was visible through the app, the court heard.

When she refused to send him further images, Webber distributed these images to others.

This caused significant harm to her mental health and wellbeing.

When the girl came forward and contacted the police, officers were able to locate Webber through his IP address.

Police seized indecent images and videos of children and four extreme pornography images and videos from Webber.

The court heard how he continued to create SnapChat accounts just days before his arrest.

He deleted the SnapChat app from his phone less than a minute before he was taken into custody for questioning.

James Michael David Webber, 39, of Hollygarth Lane, was found guilty at York Crown Court on 24 July of seven offences including blackmail; two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity; three counts of possession of indecent images of children and possession of extreme pornography.

Today (16 February) he has been jailed for 13 years.

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