Gamer blackmailed girl, 12, for sex images

Ryan Norton made contact with the girl online and then, after allowing the troubled youngster to confide in him, began requesting sexual images. When she refused at first, Norton, now aged 30, said 'well you don't love me then' and pressurised the youngster into sending the images. He also performed a sex act over a video link in the hope the girl would watch.

At Wolverhampton Crown Court this week, Norton, of Westbury Road, Wednesbury, was jailed for 14 months having previously pleaded guilty to four counts of inciting a child to engage in a sex act and two counts of engaging in a sex act in the presence of a child.

Prosecuting, Mr Timothy Sapwell, said the victim was vulnerable not only because of her age but also because she was having a hard time at school and her mother had been unwell.

He said: "It was against that background she got to know the defendant through Xbox gaming. She had got it at Christmas in 2012 and she was in contact with him for some months after that.

"She added him on Facebook as a friend. He called her 'sister' and made her feel good about herself. She said in interview he started saying things that flattered her and she fell for it. She confined in him about the problems she was having at school."

Norton's sinister intentions became clear when he asked the girl to show him her bra.

In interview, the girl admitted to feeling blackmailed by Norton so sent the images requested, said Mr Sapwell. Images of a more serious sexual nature were then requested by Norton, but the girl refused.

The court heard he told her 'if I ever lose you I would kill myself' and offered to buy her gifts including a necklace and a dog.

He also lied about his age, claiming to be 18, despite being 28 at the time.

Mr Sapwell said when Norton began to perform a sex act over a live video link, the girl paused the stream and left the room

Following his arrest, Norton accepted he had made contact with the girl but said there had been 'nothing sexual about it'.

Defending, Mr Gurdeep Garcha, told the court Norton lived at home with his parents, had attended a special school as a child and had never had a girlfriend or a sexual relationship.

"The girl was affected by his comments but only to a degree," he said. "He was not particularly successful in pushing his desires on her. There was no attempt by him to progress matters beyond that contact."

His Honour Judge Burbidge QC handed down a 14 month sentence for each charge, to run concurrently.

He said: "There must be a statement to the public at large that people will go to prison when they do these things. This was not just looking at pornography on the internet, this was engaging a child."