Man who groomed and blackmailed girls online sentenced

A man who groomed and blackmailed four teenage girls into sharing indecent images of themselves has been sentenced.

Leicestershire Police said Ben Dodd, 20, targeted the girls, aged 14 to 17 years old, through social media and encouraged them to send him images and videos of a sexual nature.

He then blackmailed them into sending him more material by threatening to share the content with their friends and family, the force added.

On Friday, Dodd, from Leicester, was given a two-year prison sentence - suspended for two years - after pleading guilty to 15 offences in March.

The force said it was first alerted to Dodd's offending in December 2023, when a 17‑year‑old girl reported he had persuaded her to send an indecent image of herself in exchange for money, after he befriended her on Facebook.

When she asked him to delete the picture, he threatened to share it with her family and friends if she did not send more images and videos, the force added.

While he was being investigated for this offence, officers said they received another report of similar offences by an unidentified account on Snapchat.

Devon and Cornwall Police also received a report in June 2024 from a 14-year-old concerning similar behaviour, Leicestershire Police said.

After police checks, the reports were traced back to Dodd's home address and an examination of his digital devices further identified another girl, 16, from Staffordshire.

Dodd was found to have been screenshotting the images he received in order to keep them stored on his devices, police said. During interactions with two of the girls, he also shared sexual images and videos of himself, police added.

Dodd was sentenced at Leicester Crown Court after he admitted 10 charges of making indecent photos of a child, two of sexual communications with a child, two of threatening to share intimate photos of a child and one of threatening to disclose private sexual photos with intent to cause distress.

After sentencing, Det Con Heather North said: "The courage these girls have shown in telling their parents and supporting a police investigation is remarkable. I would like to thank them and their families for their continued support and engagement throughout this extremely difficult process."

Dodd will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order and will be required to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years. In addition to the suspended sentence, he must complete 200 hours of unpaid work and 26 sessions of a probation programme.

Det Insp Jim Willoughby added: "If you are a victim of a sexual offence or online exploitation, help and support is available. You can contact the police at any time. If you do not feel ready to do so, consider speaking to a parent, teacher, carer, or another trusted person who can help you access the support you need."

• If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can access support via the BBC Action Line

Listen to BBC Radio Leicester on Sounds and follow BBC Leicester on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.