A man who posed as a young female to lure four teenage boys into online sexual activity which he then threatened to expose avoided being sent to jail today (Thursday).
Richard Simpson admitted the online activity - known as ‘catfishing’ - and was handed a suspended sentence for a range of offences against four Co Down schoolboys.
The 31-year old appeared at Downpatrick Crown Court, sitting in Belfast, where Judge Geoffery Miller KC imposed a three-year sentence which was suspended for three years.
Read more: Belfast Wolfe Tones concert assault accused spared jail
The offending occurred over a period spanning from June 2016 to June 2017 when Simpson was 25 and his victims were 14 and 15.
Deploying the same method to lure all four teenage boys into chatting with him, Simpson used Snapchat and Facebook to contact the schoolboys by posing as a young female.
After establishing contact as the female, Simpson then sent images of the female and asked the boys to send sexual pictures back. The court heard the behaviour of the female and the requests being made caused alarm to the teenage boys, who blocked the account.
When this was done, Simpson would then contact the boys - still posing as the female - and threaten that he had naked pictures of them and would post them online and sent them to family and friends if they didn’t continue the chats.
The teenagers alerted their parents and a police investigation was launched. Officers were able to trace Simpson to the online activity via Snapchat, Skype and Facebook and he was arrested on September 7, 2017.
He gave a ‘no comment’ response during interview, and when two mobile phones and his laptop were examined, information linking him to the four schoolboys was located.
Also present were images of a naked female which police believe Simpson used to lure the teenagers into online chats.
Simpson - who at the time of his arrest lived in Co Down and now with an address at Harthopp Road in Liverpool - subsequently pleaded guilty to 10 offences including possessing indecent images of a child, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and sexual communication with a child.
Defence barrister Michael Boyd said that following his arrest, Simpson sought “intensive and aggressive therapy” to deal with the issues which caused him to offend and to ensure “this never ever takes place again”.
Revealing Simpson has no previous convictions and has not offended since, Mr Boyd said he was now in a settled relationship and lives in England. Mr Boyd added the remorse that Simpson has since expressed was genuine.
Judge Miller said he had carefully considered all aspects of the case - including that as a man of 25, Simpson posed as someone else and exposed vulnerable teenage boys online for his own sexual gratification.
Noting the steps Simpson had taken in the six years since his arrest to address his issues, Judge Miller imposed the suspended sentence and placed him on the Sex Offenders Register for an indefinite period.
READ NEXT:
PSNI officer bitten by man after he dropped trousers in Belfast city centre
Belfast taxi driver 'threatened with handgun and ordered to hand over money'
West Belfast man jailed after 'throwing knives at his mother' in drug-fuelled attack
Northern Ireland households to receive £200 heating oil payment
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here. To sign up to our FREE newsletters, see here.
