Online predator who blackmailed girls into becoming 'sex slaves' jailed for 18 years
An online predator who blackmailed girls as young as 12 into becoming his ‘sex slaves’ has been given a 26 year sentence following a National Crime Agency investigation.
Jordan Croft, 26, from Worthing, West Sussex, admitted forcing 26 victims aged 12-22, most of whom were children, to send photos and videos of them performing sexual and degrading acts on themselves and others.
Croft sought out young girls on online chat platforms with the aim of dominating and controlling them. NCA investigators found that he had been in contact with over 5,000 people on one platform alone.
He went to great lengths to hide his true identity and avoid detection, using a large number of accounts based on false details and conducting the majority of his offending on encrypted phones and apps.
After getting the girls to send him a nude ‘custom pic’ of his choosing, he used this to make demands for increasingly depraved and graphic content at all hours of the day, including while they were at school.
He confessed to having a “toilet kink” and said they had to inform him when they were going to the toilet, then film themselves urinating or defecating. Some were forced to gargle urine and perform enemas on themselves.
NCA officers arrested Croft in September 2019, after identifying him as the man behind various usernames which featured in reports of online abuse filed by a number of police forces in England. This offending dated back to April 2018.
Numerous devices, including Croft’s two mobile phones and a USB stick, were seized for analysis, which led to the NCA uncovering the full extent of his offending, including a further 19 victims.
Both phones had an encrypted side to them, which was where the messaging applications were stored. Here, Croft had saved the abuse material his victims sent him, tagged with their names and ages, along with a list of their social media followers.
Further indecent images of children (IIOC) were found on the USB stick which also contained a portable operating system. When plugged in to a computer, the system would ensure nothing was written to the computer’s hard disk and all trace of activity was deleted.
Investigators linked him to 20 online profiles across four different messaging platforms.
Chat logs showed that in many cases, Croft initially pretended to be a teenage boy in order to befriend his victims. He then set a list of rules they had to adhere to, which included moving their conversation to encrypted platform Telegram and sending any photos or videos he asked for.
Once content they were going to follow his rules, he revealed his true age and admitted to being a “catfish” and a “pedo [sic] into girls 12-14”.
Many were forced to film themselves verbally confirming that they were entering into his “contract of sexual slavery”.
If the girls did not comply or asked to be released from the contract, he would set punishments and threaten to expose them to their family or social media followers.
He also told them he had a degree in cyber security and had masked his online identity so he could not be traced by law enforcement.
Sentencing judge Christine Laing QC described Croft’s abuse as, “Lengthy premeditated and sadistic abuse of young girls using social media and in doing so you’ve caused them untold psychological harm.
“You did everything you could to control them and your desire to control these young girls and humiliate them is clear.
“Many of your victims were aged between 12 and 15, an age when any right thinking person knows them to be vulnerable, something you were all too happy to exploit.
“Invading the privacy of their homes and bedrooms leaving many feeling they now have no safe place to retreat to. You left many of them feeling isolated from family and friends with nowhere to turn to for help.
“The majority of them felt they had no option but submit to your disgusting and depraved demands.
“All of those targeted feel the long lasting impact of you, their loss of trust in people, their difficulty in forming new relationships with people, family and friends, impact on education, social anxiety and panic and those who did and still do contemplate harming themselves.
"All that damage caused by you for the sake of your own sexual gratification.
"I believe you are an extremely dangerous serial paedophile with a perverted sexual interest in young girls. The abhorrent nature of your behaviour is that an extremely long sentence is merited for protection for the public."
Croft was charged in June 2022 with 65 offences following authorisation by the Crown Prosecution Service.
The charges include multiple counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, blackmail, making unwarranted demands for IIOC, intentionally causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a child, and making over 900 IIOC in categories A-C.
He pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced at Lewes Crown Court on Friday (11 November) to 18 years in prison, and a further eight years on licence.
He will also be placed on the sex offenders' register for life, and will be subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and a restraining order preventing him from contacting his victims.
Martin Ludlow, senior investigating officer at the National Crime Agency, said: “Jordan Croft is a prolific offender who has caused heart-breaking suffering to many victims and their families.
“The sexual depravity he consistently displayed during this abuse of both young female children and adults is horrific.
“Like many offenders Croft thrived on the power he was able to exert over the victims. He sought the feeling of control and obtained it by deceit and abuse.
“He showed no compassion for the victims, pushing them to breaking point and issuing threats, even when they begged him to stop.
“I commend these young women who have shown such bravery in speaking out against him.
“Croft is an example of an adult sexual offender who deploys plausible online profiles to hide their real identity and exploit children.
“We know children are increasingly sharing personal material on social media sites, but I urge them be aware of the hurt and long term damage manipulative offenders like Croft cause, and to think carefully about who they may be communicating with online.
“The NCA will continue to pursue the most serious offenders, including those who believe they can hide behind the anonymity of the internet to abuse children. Like Croft they will be brought to justice.”
Richard Collard, Regulatory and Policy Manager at the NSPCC, said: “Jordan Croft used social media and private messaging as easy tools to find and subject girls to sustained and degrading abuse.
“The testimonies of the brave victims which were heard in court starkly highlight the devastating impact online sexual abuse has on children.
“The sad reality is that much of Croft’s offending could have been prevented if social media sites and messaging apps had a legal obligation to identify and disrupt child abuse which is taking place at record levels.
“This case should serve as a wake-up call for the Prime Minister to keep the Government’s promise to children and families up and down the UK by getting the Online Safety Bill through Parliament without any further delay.”
Iryna Pona, Policy Manager at The Children’s Society, said: “This truly horrific abuse will have caused unimaginable trauma for these girls and it’s crucial they now get help to recover and rebuild their lives.
“Too often young victims do not get the support they need, and unacceptably low prosecution rates for sexual offences against children mean many other offenders like Croft escape justice.
“Children may be too scared to report abuse or manipulated to think they are in a genuine relationship, but too many are still let down by professionals who miss or dismiss signs they are at risk.
“More must be done to improve professional responses to abuse and prosecute offenders without the need for children to relive their ordeal in court, while the Government must invest further in support for young victims, ending the current postcode lottery, and enshrining their rights in law.
“During the Covid lockdowns predators increasingly targeted children online, and it’s crucial the Online Safety Bill quickly returns to Parliament so tech companies are compelled to do far more to spot signs of grooming, quickly remove abuse images and have clearer, more responsive systems for reporting concerns.”