Derby man jailed 31 years for Snapchat grooming of 152 children

A Derby judge sentenced Siah Riley, a 36-year-old man from Normanton, to a 31-year extended prison term for using fake Snapchat accounts to target 152 children aged nine to 16, coercing them into sending explicit images and videos between 2021 and 2023.

Judge Shaun Smith KC, at Derby Crown Court, described Riley as "every parents worst nightmare" and stated he had never encountered such a prolific offender in his 46-year career. The sentence comprises 25 years in custody plus a six-year extended licence period. Riley also received a lifetime sexual harm prevention order and must register as a sex offender for life.

Prosecutor Leanne Summers outlined how Riley operated two Snapchat accounts, posing as "Josh King," a teenage boy, and "Kim," a teenage girl. He requested sexual images and videos from victims, then blackmailed 24 of them by threatening to post the material on platforms including TikTok, Facebook, explicit sites, and the dark web if they refused to send more. Police discovered he used one device to communicate while recording content with another, transferring files to a laptop organized into folders named after individual victims. Devices seized contained 1,831...