Lee Philip Rees of Roath, Cardiff was sentenced to nine years in prison for convincing pedophiles to pay him over £40,000 by pretending to be a teenage girl. He was found guilty of computer hacking, distribution of indecent child photos and blackmail.

Rees admitted to posing as a 13 year old girl in chat rooms as bait for pedophiles. Rees used a remote access tool to install indecent images on their machines. He then would take screen shots and threaten to post them to schools and media sources unless the victim paid up. He demanded payment up to £200 from his victims in the form of Amazon vouchers instead of Bitcoin.

Judge Eleri Rees, unrelated to the crook, said: “Having read all of the evidence and, in particular, the chat logs, I have reached the conclusion that you derived much enjoyment and satisfaction in controlling and manipulating these individuals, preying on their fears and extracting for yourself significant financial gain.”

Source: BBC