A Welsh teenager has been jailed for eight years after admitting to targeting and abusing dozens of girls online
Cory Jones, 19, from Treorchy in Rhondda Cynon Taf, pleaded guilty to 69 offences, including distributing indecent images, causing a child to engage in sexual activity and blackmail.
The victims at the hands of Jones’ campaign of abuse were aged between 10 and 16, with the offences being carried out between 2022 and 2024.
In addition to the eight-year sentence, the 19-year-old was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life and subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
Cory Jones, 19, from Treorchy in Rhondda Cynon Taf, pleaded guilty to 69 offences
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SOUTH WALES POLICE
Cardiff Crown Court heard that Jones would message the victims and gain their trust, before demanding they send him sexually explicit images and videos of themselves.
The court was also told that if the children refused, Jones would threaten to post the previously sent images and videos on social media.
The 19-year-old also sent indecent images of himself to his victims.
South Wales Police officers uncovered 172 indecent images of children on his phone after seizing the device.
Cardiff Crown Court heard that Jones would message the victims and gain their trust, before demanding they send him sexually explicit images
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WIKIMEDIA COMMONSJones used social messaging app Snapchat to contact his victims and lied about his age and name as he carried out the abuse.
Prosecutor James Wilson said Jones’ victims were left feeling “sick” and “betrayed” when the serial abuser demanded explicit images and videos from them.
One victim, aged just 12 when they were abused, told the court in a statement: “When this first happened to me, it made me feel very nervous and upset.
“I was worried that people would find out what I had done and treat me differently.
South Wales Police officers uncovered 172 indecent images of children on his phone
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GETTY“Since telling the police, I’ve had some counselling… I blame myself for everything, really.
“I still find it very hard to talk about.”
John Ryan, defending, asked the judge to take into account his client’s age and lack of maturity.
He added that Jones felt genuine remorse over his crimes.
Judge Jeremy Jenkins said Jones had been “corrupted” by his consumption of pornography and described him as “a loner”.
He added: “You have a completely distorted view of loving relationships and matters sexually.”
The Crown Prosecution Service’s Lisa McCarthy said: “Cory Jones was deceptive and manipulative, coercing children to engage in acts to satisfy his own sexual gratification and blackmailing some by threatening to publish sexually exploitative images on social media when they refused.
“This was a substantial and complex investigation, with the number of child victims quite shocking.”
