'Cruel manipulator' jailed for child sex offences

Tyler Allen manipulated five children into sending him intimate images and videos

A 'cruel manipulator' who asked young girls to send him explicit images and then threatened to kill and rape one when she refused to meet him has been sentenced to 22 months in a young offenders' institution.

Tyler Allen, of Vicarage Court in Brockworth, Gloucestershire, manipulated five victims into sending him intimate images and videos of themselves in 2023.

He pleaded guilty to six counts of causing/inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, two charges of causing a child to watch a sexual act and two charges of engaging in sexual communication with a child.

Allen, 20, who committed the offences when he was aged 17 and 18, was sentenced on Thursday at Gloucester Crown Court.

The court was told that Allen's offending followed a common pattern of him manipulating online conversations with girls to become sexual.

It heard that when the girls resisted, he used emotional manipulation by saying he loved them or that he would harm himself if they did not comply.

He asked a 12-year-old to meet him on her 13th birthday, and when she made an excuse not to, he threatened to rape and kill her.

In a separate incident, he demanded images from a 15 year-old girl and then threatened to post them on social media platforms if she did not send more.

The other charges related to online contact with children aged between 12 and 15.

'He exploited children'

Allen, who made his guilty pleas in July, was then arrested and charged following an investigation by Gloucestershire Police's Child Exploitation Team.

Investigating officer, Police Staff Investigator Amber Jones said: "Allen cruelly manipulated and exploited children for his own sexual gratification.

"The victims in this case have shown great courage in coming forward, especially as what he did to them is an exceptionally difficult topic for people of any age to talk about," she added.

As well as the detention sentence, he was given a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.