Depraved paedophile jailed after using Snapchat to groom children.

Depraved Paedophile Jailed for 13 Years and Six Months

A depraved paedophile from Cannock, Daniel Norton, has been sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison at Stafford Crown Court today, Monday, February 28.

The 31-year-old pleaded guilty to three counts of inciting a child under 13 years old to engage in sexual activity and one count of engaging a child aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity. He also admitted one count of blackmail.

The court heard how Norton exploited underage Snapchat users by creating bogus accounts claiming to give away free clothes. He would ask users to confirm their measurements by sending images before threatening to share them online.

Norton would then blackmail victims into sharing explicit images and videos directly.

Sergeant Natalie Waldrun, of Staffordshire Police's Operation Safenet, said: "Norton tricked and deceived unsuspecting girls into sharing explicit images online and has caused significant emotional stress to those involved. Staffordshire Police would like to commend the victims for their bravery in coming forward and assisting officers with the investigation. We are happy that justice has been served and hope this sentence serves as a reminder that specialist operations are proactively investigating sexual offenders who use social media to exploit victims."