Description
A Snapchat groomer has been jailed for befriending girls online and then bombarding them with threatening messages to send him naked pictures.
Paedophile Christopher Ware, 32, set up multiple accounts on social media, lied about his age, his name and sometimes pretended to be a girl in order to gain the trust of seven victims aged between nine and 15.
He would initially be friendly to the girls before demanding they send pictures of themselves.
When they refused he resorted to blackmail, telling some of the children he knew which school they went to and where they lived. He also said he would shame them by posting pictures and details online.
The supermarket worker was tracked down after one victim and the mum of another found clues to help track him down.
A judge at Exeter Crown Court praised the efforts of parents and children who informed police and brought Ware to justice.
Judge Timothy Rose told Ware: "You wrought a campaign of intrusion and influence in children's lives. You bombarded them with sexualised comments, requests and demands and threats of blackmail."
Ware, of St Peter's Street Tiverton, was jailed for four years and nine months. The defendant, who has previous links to Dunster in Somerset, pleaded guilty to 15 offences of engaging in sexual communication with children under 16; attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and causing a child to engage in sexual activity.
He appeared via video link from custody and held his head in his hands while listening to the sentencing hearing.
Ms Heather Hope, prosecuting said the first set of offences happened between January and July, 2018.
Ware contacted a 15-year-old girl on Snapchat using the false name of Ashley Page. The girl did not recognise the name but thought it might be somebody she knew so accepted his request.
"He sent her messages demanding she should send him nude pictures," said Ms Hope.
The girl blocked him but Ware managed to contact her again and continued to pester her using different names. He lied about his age, saying he was 23, then 18 and finally 15.
He continued to bombard her with messages, even when she was at school, asking if she wore a thong and sending her naked images of women.
The girl became so scared of his threats that she eventually sent naked pictures of herself.
Ware continued to message other girls, using the same threats and making the same kinds of demands.
He used a false name to pester a 13-year-old on Snapchat, saying he was aged 14. When she blocked him he would message through other accounts, asking if she was bisexual.
The girl turned detective using clues he left on the messages and Ware was tracked down, arrested and taken into custody at Bridgwater.
When police checked his computer they found he had been using it to search for indecent videos of teenage girls.
They also discovered he had been messaging other girls, again using false identities.
They included a 14-year-old who Ware inundated with requests for naked photos. He sent her a picture of himself on the toilet with trousers down and penis exposed.
When the girl blocked him he pretended to be a schoolgirl. The victim realised it was the same person due to distinctive orange-coloured walls in the messages sent to her. When she blocked him Ware again resorted to threats saying he knew where she lived.
She told her mum and police were called in for a second time.
Ware was bailed but carried on offending.
In August 2020 he pretended to be a 16-year-old boy and messaged a 14-year-old on Snapchat.
He asked for naked pictures and even offered to pay money for them, sending a picture of his bank card with a name on.
"He then threatened her that if she didn't send nude images of herself he would 'shout her out for nudes' meaning he would make it known to others on Snapchat she had sent images of herself.
Some of the victims said Ware had sent images of his penis. One described it as 'proper small'.
When the mother of one 15-year-old schoolgirl found out what he was demanding she took control of the phone and pretended to be the daughter to get information about who he was.
She then took the information to police.
Ware's youngest victim was aged just nine when he started asking her about her bra size and saying 'show me pants'.
He continued to frighten and put pressure on the girl even when she refused.
He was arrested again on November 16, 2021. Police had to force entry after Ware barricaded himself in his bedroom.
The court was read victim impacts statements from some of the girls and parents.
One 'angry and confused' parent said he daughter had retreated into her bedroom and now suffered severe anxiety.
A father said his daughter had also become distrustful of people, especially men.
Other victims said they too suffered from anxiety and depression as a result of Ware's behaviour.
"I did not want to send images to him but was so scared he knew where I lived and would hurt us I felt so out of control and felt I could not tell anybody," said one.
She said she was thankful her family had taken her phone and stopped her ordeal.
Another said she did not know who was messaging her but it turned out to be a 'nasty person with horrible intentions'. She had attempted suicide as a result of what he had done and suffered terrifying nightmares.
Mr Will Rose, defending, said Ware was a man of previous good character. The defendant denied having a sexual interest in children.
He said Ware deserved credit for pleading guilty and saving the girls from giving evidence at a trial. He was very sorry for what he had done.
He said Ware came from a broken home and his relationship with his father 'soured' after he discovered he was sleeping with his partner.
He 'hit rock bottom' and self-medicated by drinking alcohol, said Mr Rose. It was then he became 'entangled in a cycle of offending'.
Judge Rose said: "The worst part of this, apart from the terrible harm you've done, is the fact you were arrested and interviewed and kept on doing it and kept on going back to the type of comprehensive and damaging behaviour."
He said Ware had caused 'persistent and terrible harm' to girls he knew the ages of.
"On a number of occasions you resorted to the use of threats amounting to a form of blackmail in order to get what you wanted in terms of sexual images and sexualised responses."
Judge Rose said the sentencing guidelines restricted the length of sentence he could impose for the crimes. The sexual communication offences carry a maximum of two years and Ware was entitled to a reduction of one third for his guilty pleas.
"I commend all the children involved and the parents for the way brought matters to the attention of police.
"It takes a certain kind of fortitude and resolution to do that and the court expresses gratitude to all the families and individuals who came forward."