Man Who Posed As Teenager Jailed Indefinitely

26 September 2011, 17:44 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

A man who posed as a teenage boy and girl to get youngsters to send him sexual pictures of them has been sentenced in Manchester.

27 year old Craig Stockbridge, of no fixed abode, admitted causing or inciting a child into sexual activity and the possession of indecent photographs of a child.

A further four offences of inciting a child into sexual activity were asked to be taken into consideration.

He was today sentenced to an Indeterminate Sentence for the Public Protection (IPP) and ordered to serve a minimum of five years.

He was also given a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders' Register for life.

Stockbridge befriended seven boys, aged between 13 and 15, before inciting them to send pictures over the internet.

When one boy became suspicious and refused to comply with further demands he threatened to distribute the images already received.

He used aliases Lee Davis and Jessica Davis and targeted youngsters on social network sites for young people.

Detective Constable Andy Pilling, from the Sexual Crime Unit, said:

'Stockbridge is a manipulative and deceitful man who posed as a teenager - be it boy or girl - to try and get his hands on indecent images.

'When one his victims became suspicious and refused to do what he demanded of them he made very real and very scary threats in relation to the images they had already sent, leaving them not knowing where to turn.

'Thankfully most of his victims confided in their parents who in turn contacted police and Stockbridge has rightly been brought to justice today.

'I want to highlight this case to stress how extremely important it is that parents are mindful of which websites their children are visiting and perhaps speak to them of the associated dangers of speaking to and sharing material with strangers.'