A
man with perverted instincts is being made to pay after he hid behind
the guise of being a fashion blogger to cajole young girls into getting
n*de.
David Harmes
The man, David Harmes pretended to be the popular fashion blogger, Zoella Sugg, and then groomed young children online.
He was however nabbed, charged to court and has been jailed for eight years.
According to Daily Mail, David Harmes lured young girls into
performing s*x acts by posing as popular celebrities he thought would
appeal to them. He claimed to be fashion icon Zoella as well as a member
of boyband Bars and Melody and a modelling agent.
The 20-year-old, from Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, would contact
victims across the UK by Skype using the false identities and coerce
them into s*x acts.
He would tell besotted fans to pose in swimwear and underwear to
'score points' to be in with a chance of winning tickets to see or meet
the stars he pretended to be.
He then claimed they had 'missed out by a point or two' before getting them to perform s*x acts.
During other online conversations, Harmes posed as a dance school
talent scout and a modelling agent - claiming he could get them
contracts in glossy magazines.
Police said 294 girls, mainly from across the UK but also from
abroad, were duped into 'degrading and humiliating acts' over a five
year period - which included them stripping off in front of Harmes and
posing in underwear.
He also filmed them carrying out sexual acts before distributing
them online. He set up 24 separate Skype and other accounts targeting
victims who had posted videos to YouTube.
David Harmes claimed to be Zoella Sugg (pictured)
Harmes admitted 35 offences against 28 victims, aged eight to 18,
and also asked for a further four offences to be taken into
consideration.
The offences include causing or inciting a girl under 13 to engage
in sexual activity and making and distributing indecent photographs of a
child. He did not meet up with any of the victims.
Harmes was jailed for eight years at Chester Crown Court on Monday
and ordered to serve five years behind bars and three years out on
licence.
Judge Roger Dutton told him: 'You had a perverted sexual desire
to coerce and persuade children to do foul things. These offences had a
profound impact on not only the children but also the parents of the
children who should have been safe in their own home'.
None of the famous people he pretended to be knew anything about his activities.
DC Simon Ledger of Cheshire Police, said: 'Harmes duped young
girls into thinking they were talking to people they looked up to and in
some cases posed as a modelling agency representative so that he could
manipulate them for his own pleasure.
'It is a timely reminder that while the internet is an amazing
tool, it has a darker side which we need to be mindful of and shows just
how imperative it is that parents are aware of the sites their children
are accessing and who they are communicating with.
'People like Harmes have no qualms with using the internet to their own perverse means.'
Wendy Newton, senior crown prosecutor with the Mersey Cheshire Crown Prosecution Service, added: 'Harmes ruthlessly exploited these children for his own sexual gratification.
'The girls, some as young as eight and nine, thought they were
being offered the opportunity to be part of a modelling or dance company
or were being given the chance to talk to a member of a famous pop
group or fashion blogger.
'Harmes is yet another offender willing to use the internet and
webcams to commit crimes. It is important that parents are aware of
what their children are doing online and that they talk to them about
the risks of interacting with people they don't know personally.'
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