Pretending to be a model agency scout, Ishmael Duncan London Paedophile controlled and coerced scores of teenage girls into providing obscene pictures and videos of themselves.
Officers of the National Crime Agency found 24-year-old Ishmael Duncan behind Snapchat accounts used to force and frighten youngsters into producing pornographic photos.
Ishmael Duncan was found guilty of crimes against 28 female victims from the UK, US, Canada, and Australia, some as young as nine. However, from these profiles, researchers think he contacted more than 10,000 youngsters online.
The material found by Snapchat that wasn’t end-to-end encrypted allowed the NCA to identify victims and compile evidence.
Initially providing information to the NCA of a report filed to Florida Police by a family of two girls claiming they were threatened following the publication of graphic photographs to one of the accounts, US National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) first supplied specifics.
Examining internet data about the phoney Snapchat accounts revealed that although the NCA proved Ishmael Duncan was behind all of them, the accounts connected to several locations showed different trends.
He was arrested at his Lambeth house in July 2021; authorities discovered several devices there. Materials taken from these and cloud storage included obscene photos Ishmael Duncan had obtained from children and chat logs from the several Snapchat accounts Ishmael Duncan used.
He would start by contacting possible victims to determine whether they would be suited models for well-known fashion companies. Before he asked for clothed photographs or videos, those who responded would be questioned for their age and personal information. After building their confidence via a protracted interview process, he provided them with official appearance contracts, including the logo of the impersonated brand.
Under the premise of evaluating the victims’ physical shape, he would ask for topless pictures to use as a base for clothes altering. Girls who questioned this were advised the original images would be erased upon editing, and some were threatened with being “blacklisted” from modelling should they refuse.
To convey authenticity, Ishmael Duncan used numerous personas inside the model agency. He contacted victims from several accounts under “Callum,” the photographer, and “Mark,” the general manager of the preteen models division.
Sometimes, many months later, he opened a different account to get in touch with the same victims, threatening to reveal and distribute their pictures unless they satisfied his requests for more images.
Sending the following text was part of this process: “This is an automated message. Unless you respond to this message stating, “I understand,” we have your nudes and will forward them to highlight stories on Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter. Your nudes will be sent out whether you block or unfriend this account or respond with anything other than “I understand”. Your only caution is this one.
Apart from his strategy of modelling, he sought sexual photographs and videos from other possible victims who claimed to be children of like age. Along with offering her $1,000 to have a sexual relationship with her brother, he blackmailed a 14-year-old girl who supplied pictures.
From his gadgets and cloud storage, officials found 19,120 obscene pictures of youngsters in categories A to C (A being the most severe).
Ishmael Duncan was charged with 53 counts, including causing or encouraging a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity (penetrative and non-penetrative), blackmail, sexual communication with a child, indecent and prohibited images of children (making and possession) and possession of extreme pornographic images.
On August 21 of this year, he showed up at Inner London Crown Court and admitted to 42 counts; on September 14, he entered a further eight-count guilty plea. One count of blackmail and two counts of trying to inspire a youngster to have sexual behaviour will be kept on file.
Ishmael Duncan was sentenced to eighteen years at the same court today, December 7. Along with a lifelong Sexual Harm Prevention Order, he was also handed a forfeiture order about three phones and a laptop and placed on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely.
If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this article, then please report those individuals to the Police on 101 (999 if an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details of the options for reporting a crime. You can also make a report at Crimestoppers should you wish to be completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.