'Prolific paedophile' from Tameside jailed for 14 years
Kyle Lees was convicted of 35 child sex offences
A Tameside man described as a 'prolific paedophile' has been jailed for 14 years after admitting to 35 sexual offences.
21 year old Kyle Lees, of Ann Street, Ashton-under-Lyne, was caught in a sting operation which uncovered his activities on the dark web.
He was found to be blackmailing his victims, some as young as 14; encouraging them to send him explicit photos before threatening to release the images to victims' friends and family.
He was identified by international law enforcement operators, who targeted a secret chatroom used by predators to communicate.
Police found Lees has created multiple fake online accounts and had attempted to contact 3,500 online profiles believed to belong to young people.
Some of the victims were coerced into sexual activity with animals.
Several of those affected by Lees' offending have been identified and offered support. Many of his victims were in the United States but at least one was in Greater Manchester.
Lees was sentenced at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court after admitting to making indecent images of a child, possessing extreme pornography, blackmail and causing child pornography.
Aside from his prison sentence, Lees will serve a further five years on extended licence and will be on the sex offenders' register for life.
Detective Inspector Suzanne Keenaghan, of our Online Child Abuse Investigation Team, said:
“Kyle Lees is an abhorrent, calculated and manipulative sexual predator who was a significant danger to teenage girls online and it’s of great satisfaction that he will now begin a significant spell behind bars for his sickening crimes.
“Lees would hunt out vulnerability and blackmail his victims into doing unthinkable acts purely for his own sexual pleasure, and it is clear he got braver over time when he was sat behind his computer screen embarking on this depraved campaign which ruined the lives of innocent children.
“I must pay tribute to the survivors of this abuse and their families for their bravery and support during this investigation and I hope that seeing Lees put behind bars brings some element of closure.
“This has been a gruelling but highly-rewarding investigation and has demonstrated the strength of our collaboration with partners around the world in working together to identify suspects and do all we can to bring them to justice, while protecting victims and ensuring we can do all we can to help them and their families move on with their lives."