Saturday 26 August 2017

Online Live.Me Child Sex Pervert Jailed

An online sexual predator, who incited a nine year-old girl to expose herself on popular youth site Live.Me, has been locked-up for four years.
Almost 300 users of the live streaming app witnessed the victim revealing intimate parts of her body while encouraged by 28 year-old Glen Friend.
He pleaded guilty at Snaresbrook Crown Court to inciting the girl to engage in sexual activity and breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
The east Londoner was also handed a two-year extended supervision order, which he will be subject to on his release from custody.
The case is believed to be one of the Metropolitan Police's first successful convictions relating to misuse of the highly successful 'Live.Me' app to gain access to young children in a bid to groom them.
The app is one of the fastest growing of its type worldwide and users have limited control over who views their posts/videos.
Friend was arrested as he left prison having served time for breaching sex offender notification requirements.
He was caught after an intelligence-led operation directed officers to the fact that he was engaging with a young female user on the Live.Me service.
The Sexual Harm Prevention Order that Friend was subject to expressly forbade him to communicate with any individual under 18 years of age via social media/the internet.
During May Friend was heavily involved, along with a number of other users, in encouraging the girl into the sexual actions.
Detective Sergeant Fenton Davis, from the Waltham Forest Jigsaw Unit, said: "This application is extremely well used by children.
Those who register seek to gain 'likes' and 'electronic gifts' from other users.
The more they receive, the higher their status within that online community.
"Glen Friend is a predatory sexual offender, who targeted a vulnerable victim via this app.
“Offenders who seek to hide behind an online username in an attempt to hide their identity will be relentlessly pursued by investigators.
"We would like to thank South Yorkshire Police for their assistance with our investigation in helping to identify the child concerned.
"The amount of damage this type of encounter causes to these very young victims can be extensive.
“It became apparent from our talks with the girl in this case that she is easily upset and very sensitive after what she has gone through.
"Parents should be ever vigilant of their child's activity on social media sites, particularly in regard to video streaming apps.
"This conviction clearly demonstrates that people who use these streaming sites for criminal means, in particular to commit sexual offences, will be tracked down and prosecuted for their actions.”
Live.Me removed the footage at the request of the police, who are continuing to identify the other users.

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