A man who pretended to be a teenager to sexually groom and blackmail a 15-year-old girl has been jailed.
George Michael Casson, 30, from Moor Monkton near York, was sent to prison for 19 months at York Crown Court today (Tuesday).
The sexual communication occurred between 31 January and 31 March 2022 when he befriended the girl, who’s from Buckinghamshire, on the Litmatch social community app.
Casson pretended to be a 16-year-old boy called ‘Ty’ using a fake profile to gain the girl’s trust. He then used two other fake profiles acting as Ty’s brother and another person who was a “gang member”.
During this time, the girl was engaged in sexual conversation and repeatedly pressured to send indecent images of herself. Threats were made to share the images with her family and her school if she refused to send more to Casson.
The victim’s parents noticed she had become withdrawn and were able to intervene when they saw the disturbing messages.
They reported the matter to the police, and the suspect was traced to North Yorkshire.
He pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual communication with a child at an earlier hearing on 7 November at York Magistrates’ Court.
As well as his prison sentence, he’s been placed on the Sex Offenders Register and issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order today.
Detective Constable Bradley Bodfield, who led the investigation, said: “Casson denied being responsible for sending the messages until the day of the trial when he changed his plea to guilty.
“He also failed to attend the initial trial date on 7 August this year and was circulated as wanted on warrant.
“He went on the run and evaded the police for over a month and was subsequently arrested by Kent Police on 17 September.
“Casson has shown not a shred of remorse for his disturbing actions and the terrible effect he has had on the victim.
“I really hope this outcome provides her with strength to rebuild her life.”
