A MAN who tricked children across the world into sending him nude selfies then blackmailed them into sexually abusing young relatives on camera has had four years added to his jail sentence.

Paul Leighton, 32, from Malvern Crescent, Seaham, County Durham, watched by video link from prison as three judges at the Court of Appeal in London raised his 16-year prison term to 20 years.

The judges agreed with Solicitor General Robert Buckland that the original sentence imposed at Newcastle Crown Court in September was "unduly lenient".

Spray-painter Leighton, who created up to 40 fake Facebook profiles to befriend teenagers in the UK, Canada, the US and Australia, admitted more than 20 offences, including rape, blackmail, causing a child to engage in sexual activity, making indecent photographs of a child, and sexual assault.

One 14-year-old from Florida was tricked into believing he was talking to a girl, then blackmailed into repeatedly raping his one-year-old niece.

Leighton threatened the teenager that he would post videos of the abuse online if he did not do more.

Increasing his sentence on Thursday, Lord Justice Holroyde said of the crimes: "They involve sexual offending of a most serious and disturbing kind which has caused grave harm to a number of victims."

The judge said: "The offences involved the cynical manipulation of adolescent victims by communications over the internet, coupled with the use of blackmail."

Lord Justice Holroyde said the fact that he used some victims "to commit serious crimes against other victims - in one case a baby" made the overall picture one of "very grave offending."

The trial judge was faced with an "unusual and difficult sentencing exercise", and he was "plainly entitled" to reach the conclusion that Leighton was a "dangerous offender".

The court was in "no doubt" that 16 years was unduly lenient. As well as increasing the custodial term, the judges added one year to his six-year extended licence.

Mr Buckland said in a statement: "This is a deeply disturbing and serious case.

"Leighton callously targeted vulnerable children and subjected them to a series of threats, frightening them into complying with his sexual demands.

"Such terrible offending deserves a tougher punishment and this increased sentence takes into account the seriousness of this offending."

Speaking afterwards, Detective Inspector Angela Hufton, of Northumbria Police Safeguarding Department, said: "We are pleased by the decision from the Court of Appeal and satisfied with the increased sentence handed down to Leighton.

"This man had planned and carried out truly horrendous crimes against children over a sustained period. Many of his victims are still suffering the terrible results of his crime and will carry this burden with them throughout their lives.

"Leighton used a mobile phone to commit these offences and the cover of fake social media profiles to carry out this catalogue of abuse.

"Our officers worked with Homeland Security in the US as the devastating scale of his offences fully emerged during the investigation. This latest court case again shows just how vigilant young people and their families must be to stay safe against such calculated criminal activity.

"An important part of the work of our neighbourhood officers is to regularly visit schools to give advice to young people about staying safe online. We'd also ask parents and other family members to be vigilant and to remind them of the dangers of contacting strangers online and sharing indecent images.

"We hope the many families who have been victims of Leighton will now feel that justice has been done and will be able to start to move forward with their lives.

“The internet and social media should be a safe platform for young people but this type of offending highlights just how dangerous it can be.

“People need to be vigilant and aware of the risks because cowardly predators like Paul Leighton do hide behind their computer screen and target vulnerable people.

“This case shows to you that we will find these individuals, we will put them before the court and they will be put behind bars for a long time.

"Our work to safeguard people will continue and we would say to anyone suffering on-line abuse to contact police straight away and let us help you."


Anyone who feels they have been a victim of a cyber-crime, or feels that they may have been groomed online, can contact police on 101 or Victims First Northumbria on 0800 011 3116.