Man jailed for child sex offences

James Michael David Webber was located by police from his IP address

Author: Matt MaddrenPublished 16th Feb 2024

A man from Beal, near Selby, has been jailed for 13 years after being found guilty of child sex offences and blackmail.

39-year-old James Michael David Webber, from Hollygarth Lane, was found guilty at York Crown Court of seven offences including blackmail; two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity; three counts of possession of indecent images of children and possession of extreme pornography.

The court heard how, in May 2020, Webber manipulated and blackmailed a 12-year-old child to send explicit images of herself to him via SnapChat.

He threatened to harm her family as he claimed he could see where she lived as her location was visible through the app.

When the victim refused to send him further images, Webber distributed these images to others.

Webber was quickly located by police from his IP address.

The court heard how he was continuing to create SnapChat accounts just days before his arrest.

And while officers attended his address to carry out the arrest, he deleted the SnapChat app from his phone less than a minute before he was taken into custody for questioning.

A key component of this investigation involved North Yorkshire Police’s Digital Forensic Team who examined Webber's devices and uncovered the evidence to prove his guilt.

Officer in charge of the case, DC Jenna Hallewell, said:

“Webber denied the offences, showing no remorse for the twisted and vindictive behaviour against his victim that still impacts on her to this day.

“I’d like to pay tribute to the victim and her bravery in coming forward which has been incredible. Her courage means that Webber is no longer free to target and victimise children for his own pleasure.

“It is important that victims of such crimes come forward to assist police in locating perpetrators to put a stop to online abuse against children.”

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