Snapchat 'monster' abused more than 150 children

A man who pretended to be a teenager on Snapchat in order to convince more than 150 children to send him sexually explicit videos and images has been jailed for 25 years.

Siah Riley, 36, from Derby, pretended to be a boy and a girl to target victims as young as nine between 2021 and 2023. He blackmailed some childen into sending more explicit material by threatening to share their footage on social media and the dark web.

In a victim impact statement, a mother of one of the victims, said it was "every parent's worst nightmare".

Judge Shaun Smith KC said: "In my 46 years in this profession, I have never encountered a case with so many offences and so many victims."

Riley was told he will also serve a six-year extended period on licence once released from prison.

Smith KC added Riley showed "persistent predatory behaviour" and a "complete disregard of the psychological wellbeing" for his victims.

"You clearly have no moral compass," he said. "You are every parent's worst nightmare. You have a perverted obsession with young girls."

Derby Crown Court heard Riley secured more than 2,700 images and videos from victims aged between nine and 16.

Prosecutor Leanne Summers said Riley, of Walbrook Road, was arrested in November 2023 and had electronic devices seized following an intelligence-led police investigation.

He admitted speaking to children and asking them to send him images and videos of a sexual nature as well as using blackmail.

He was re-arrested in February 2025 and had further devices seized which were not registered with an ongoing Sexual Harm Prevention Order while on bail.

"This case is about the defendant's prolific use of Snapchat to incite children aged nine to 16 to share sexual images and videos of themselves," the prosecutor said.

"He had two accounts in which he posed as 'Josh King' and another called 'Kim'.

"Riley pretended to be a teenage boy and in images obtained by one victim he pretended to be a teenage girl."

The court heard there were 152 victims – 23 of which were blackmailed in what was described as "offending which was planned and sustained".

"He would befriend them and request images of a sexual nature posing as a boy or girl," said Summers.

"He would compliment them, but his attitude would often change when they refused to send the material… telling them he would share them on social media and the dark web."

The prosecutor told the court some messages sent to Riley by victims showed they were upset and scared, with some pleading with him not to have to send anymore videos.

She added some of his victims were "visibly upset" in the content he was sent.

The court heard one victim told Riley she was a child but in response on Snapchat, he said: "That's what makes it sexy."

In a conversation with another victim aged 13, she told him she was going to the police.

In response, he told her: "Go ahead, the police will never find me… If you don't want to be all over the internet, you better send me the videos."

Another 13-year-old victim said Riley was "destroying her life" and called him a "monster".

In a victim impact statement read out in court, a mother of one victim said her daughter was referred to mental health teams and had to pull out of school.

Addressing the defendant, she said "I hope you can live with what you have done.

"We won't be able to forgive and forget what you have done and the pain you have caused not just our family but others as well.

"Every time I see the scars on her arms and legs, I hate you a little bit more."

Steve Gosnell, representing Riley, said: "He understands he needs to rehabilitate himself. He has set that out through me and has expressed regret.

"The aggravating features are clear, but he has taken responsibility for what he has done."

He pleaded guilty to multiple counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in penetrative sexual activity, causing or inciting a child to engage in non-penetrative sexual activity, causing or inciting a child under the age of 16 to engage in penetrative sexual activity, causing or inciting a child under the age of 16 to engage in non-penetrative sexual activity, engaging in sexual communication with a child, causing or inciting a child to engage in prostitution or pornography and 23 counts of blackmail.

The court also heard Riley was convicted of rape in 2013 and served six and a half years in prison.

If you have been affected by any of the issues mentioned in this article, help and advice is available through the BBC Action Line.

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