Hampshire man who posed as teenage girl online jailed

An "evil predator" who posed online as a teenage girl to incite hundreds of boys to send naked photos of themselves to him has been jailed for 10 years.

Winchester Crown Court heard there were 401 victims on James Utting's computer, aged between eight and 15.

Utting, 36, of Aldershot in Hampshire, pleaded guilty to 43 offences of possessing and distributing indecent images of children.

He also admitted engaging 11 victims in sexual activity.

Utting's victims were from places including Grimsby, Sussex, Leeds, Bradford, Southampton, Wakefield, Barnsley and Sheffield, the court heard.

Matthew Lawson, prosecuting, said Utting had created false social media profiles using an image of a 15-year-old girl.

He said the defendant would then entice his victims to send naked pictures of themselves and of them committing sex acts.

Utting, of St Michael's Road, later threatened to share the pictures of the boys to force them to send further images.

In some cases Utting went through with the threat and sent the images to victims' school friends and family members, the court was told.

Mr Lawson said some of the victims could be seen "crying and begging" the defendant to stop in the videos.

One 14-year-old victim said in a victim impact statement that "paranoia was everywhere" and "felt there was no tomorrow" after the images were shared with his friends.

His mother described Utting as an "evil predator".

She said her son had experienced "shame, hurt, paranoia, anxiety and depression" which had "broken my heart".

Judge Jane Miller QC described Utting's offending, which took place between 2014 and 2018, as "devastating and highly distressing" for his victims.

"I hope they understand it wasn't their fault," she said.

Mr Lawson said Utting told police he had become "addicted" and "lost control of himself", and described his own actions as "cruel".

Richard Martin, defending, said Utting had a "troubled life", had been diagnosed with autism and was being treated for depression.