Paedo, 20, abused 117 victims and compelled some to carve his title into their pores and skin

A British 20-year-old has been jailed for 2 years for abusing more than 100 young girls online, often coercing them into carving his online names into their skin

A twisted online child predator who forced more than 100 young victims into sexual activity and self-harm has been jailed for two years.

Justin Swaddle used a number of digital aliases to torment dozens of young girls as young as 13, often coercing them to commit harmful acts such as carving his name into their bodies.

The 20-year-old, who went by nicknames including “Epstein” and “Moscow”, was also found to have numerous horrendous child sexual abuse images on his computer, including some showing victims aged as young as three. Swaddle, who was 17 at the time of the horrendous abuse, was found to have hundreds of messages with teenagers online, many of which were sexual in nature.

The twisted teen was part of the so-called Com internet group, a sick digital community in which participants work together and often brag about the abuse and coercion they submit their often underage victims to.

According to a briefing by the National Crime Agency, Com, which is short for ‘community’, is made up of international memberships and uses online channels ranging from messaging apps to gaming platforms.

Offenders and victims are usually members of the same groups, with offenders are often motivated not by money or sexual gratification, but by the status and notoriety gained from sharing shocking content with other members. In total, cops identified 117 female victims worldwide of Swaddle’s sick acts, including eight in the UK, aged between 13 and 17.

One victim, aged 17, said she met Swaddle, of Leeds, through Discord in November 2022 before moving to Snapchat, where their conversations became sexual and self-harm was discussed. Swaddle requested nude images and told her to carve his username into her body.

She said Swaddle obtained her name, address and school details. She did what he wanted because she did not want to upset him, and said his mood changed if she failed to comply.

Swaddle was charged with several child sexual abuse offences and blackmail. He pleaded guilty to every offence at Leeds Crown Court on July 2.

He was sentenced at the same court on Monday (August 10) to two years in prison. He will be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years and must sign the sex offenders register.

Judge Kelson KC described Swaddle as “a predatory shark preying on children swimming in the dark waters of the internet”, adding that it was “one of the more extreme cases” he had seen.

Danielle Pownall, operations manager at the NCA, said: “Justin Swaddle targeted young and vulnerable victims all over the world to abuse and scare them into carrying out shocking self-harm and sexual activity, purely to gain popularity with his peers online.

“He gained the trust of his victims, before collecting private information about them so he could threaten to share their intimate images or report them to their school or parents to incite further content.

“While the number of people involved in Com groups are relatively small, the impact it has on victims is high and long-lasting, as Swaddle’s offending shows.

“We are extremely grateful for the assistance of West Yorkshire Police, our international partners and specialist prosecutors at the CPS in bringing a dangerous offender to justice.

“The NCA is coordinating the response to Com groups in the UK, working with a range of law enforcement, health and safeguarding partners to better understand pathways into offending and identify opportunities for prevention and intervention.”