Internet 'catfish' sentenced for abuse of schoolgirls

Reader attended Friday's sentence hearing via a videolink from Maghaberry Prison

A man who contacted a 12-year-old schoolgirl online and demanded she performed and recorded "degrading" sex acts has been jailed for two years.

Tommy Reader, 21, from Cliftonville Avenue, Belfast, admitted a total of 33 offences, including causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, possessing indecent images of children, sexual communication with a child and blackmail.

The offences were committed over a period spanning from 31 December 2020 to 1 January 2024.

On Friday Belfast Crown Court Judge, Neil Rafferty, described the offending as "catfishing" and imposed a four-year sentence divided equally between prison and supervised licence.

Judge Rafferty said Reader's demands were "orchestrated at his direction for his own sexual gratification".

Reader had a "predilection to see the suffering of the victim while she was forced to perform these degrading acts," the judge said.

Judge Rafferty said he had a read a victim impact statement from the 12-year-old girl which outlined the "significant and enduring" harm Reader has caused her.

Threatened to share images

The court was told that in January 2024 the Police Service of Northern Ireland was contacted by police in England regarding complaints made by the schoolgirl.

The court heard a mother had gone through her daughter's phone where she found sexually explicit chats with a male contact.

The mother read the conversations between her child and Reader, who at the time was 19, and viewed sexually explicit images of her daughter.

The court was told Reader threatened that if she did not do as he asked, he would share images he already had of her on Twitter/X.

He also told the schoolgirl he would rape her and another child and demanded she send him explicit photos while she was wearing her school uniform, the court heard.

'Sinister mind games'

The court was told Reader had contacted another 12-year-old girl prior to the girl in England.

He knew her and named her mother, the court was told.

Reader was playing "sinister mind games" with this child Judge Rafferty said.

After alerting her mother "nothing meaningful" occurred, the court was told.

Following the complaint made by the 12-year-old English girl, Reader was interviewed by police.

In police interview, he admitted further offences committed against a third victim, described as an unidentified child under 16 years.

Reader told police "I just want to admit everything."

Judge Rafferty said the offending against the English schoolgirl as "by far the most serious in this entire case".

He said Reader had had a "difficult and traumatic" childhood which included periods when he was placed into care.

Judge Rafferty said there were a number of aggravating factors including the young age of the victims and Reader's attempts to involve other children.

Mitigating factors, he said, included Reader's guilty pleas, his age and that he had attended counselling on a voluntary basis after his arrest.

The judge also noted that the offences were non-contact.

In addition to the jail term, Reader who attended his sentence hearing via a videolink with Maghaberry Prison, will spend an indefinite period on the sex offenders register.