Thursday, 28 Mar 2024

Paedophile blackmails girls into sending naked photos with vile threat

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A paedophile who targeted girls on social media by pretending to be a teenager blackmailed one victim into sending naked photographs of herself.

Michael Salmon told the child he’d “stab each member of her family one by one” if she didn’t message further explicity content. A court heard Salmon, 37, told another that he would send the naked photos he had of her to her school, if she didn’t pose for more for him.

If I was a member of the family of any one of these young girls, I would want to see a very substantial sentence given here

Judge Jonathan Carroll

The paedophile posed as a 14-year-old boy online and befriended six girls as young as 12.

Salmon even said nothing as the police arrested his autistic son on suspicion of the offences he had in fact carried out.

But, as Teesside Live reports, the twisted father was yesterday jailed for nine years. He pleaded guilty to five counts of blackmail; six counts of engaging in sexual communication with a child; three counts of distributing indecent photos of a child; attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child; five counts of possessing indecent photos of a child and one count of possessing extreme pornography.

Sentencing the defendant at Teesside Crown Court, Judge Jonathan Carroll said: These offences display an element of wickedness which is truly shocking. I am told you have remorse, but I am afraid that carries little weight in this case.

“If I was a member of the family of any one of these young girls, I would want to see a very substantial sentence given here.” 

Salmon used social media site Snapchat to befriended young girls, the first of whom was contacted on the app in 2018.

The defendant, of Darlington, County Durham, claimed to be a teenage boy and asked her to send him explicit pictures and videos of herself. The girl sent videos of herself engaging in a sex act, and some naked photos, but when Salmon asked her to meet him, she blocked him.

Matthew Bean, prosecuting, said a friend of the girl told her that she had been talking to “Tom” online and that he had referred to her. The girl unblocked Salmon, but Mr Bean said he then told her that if she didn’t send him more naked photos of herself, he would send the ones he had, “to everyone at school.”

Next, Salmon posted online: “If anyone knows X, let me know and I’ll send you naked pictures of her.” He then sent three explicit videos of the girl, to her older sister. The older girl admitted everything to their mother and the police were called in 2019.

Mr Bean said that the police arrived at Salmon’s house and, “when his 15-year-old son, who is dyspraxic and autistic, answered the door, officers arrested him.” He said that Salmon said nothing to stop this, despite knowing that he had committed the offences.

Police searching Salmon’s house, took his mobile and phone away for investigation. The court heard that a specialist IT officer recognised Salmon’s Snapchat username from a previous investigation in 2019, where the same username- “Thomas Connor Jolly” was found to be chatting online to five other underage girls.

Mr Bean said that that police investigation never progressed, due to lack of information. Officers found a folder on Salmon’s mobile phone which contained screenshots of Snapchat conversations he had had with the other girls.

Police found that Salmon had befriended a 13-year-old girl in 2004. He asked her for naked photos of herself and then sent her sexual photos of her friend – saying he’d put them on an adult site if she didn’t send him photos. The court heard that she sent him 16 indecent images of herself.

The girl came to court to read a statement she had written about the impact of what Salmon did to her: “This crime ruined my life. I lost my social life and my boyfriend. I fell into depression and self-harming. I cut my wrists. I didn’t want to be here anymore.”

Police found evidence that Salmon had befriended the second victim’s friend online, when she was 13. He saved the explicit photographs that she sent him on his phone and sent them to his second victim.

Salmon contacted a 15-year-old girl on Snapchat and asked her to send him sexually explicit photos of herself. When she refused, he told her he would “stab her family members.” The girl sent five images of herself and Salmon then sent them onto her friend.

“Tom” then contacted a 14-year-old girl, who told her friend about it. The court heard that the girls began to suspect that their Snapchat contact was not a teenage boy. “Tom” messaged one of the girls to say he would, “stab her family members, one by one, if she didn’t send naked photos of herself.” He then sent the two girls, “a selection of the videos and images he had of the other girls, to show them he meant business.”

Police also found extreme pornography on Salmon’s laptop, which showed: “sexual interference with a human corpse.” After his son was released and Salmon was arrested, he told officers that other members of his family used his laptop and that he had not looked at the videos.

Salmon was made subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order. He will sign the sex offenders register indefinitely and restraining orders were made, prohibiting him from contacting any of his victims.

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