Joshua Smith, a sadistic paedophile from Dudley, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for persuading girls as young as 12 on Snapchat to submit him sexual films, which he subsequently disseminated online.
Joshua Smith, 27, identified his victims on Snapchat, an application where he maintained several profiles impersonating a minor. After securing their trust by feigning an intention to request a list of sexual positions for them to enact and photograph for him.
Following his arrest by West Midlands Police in 2021, officers discovered evidence of other young females he had encountered online, as well as several disturbing recordings, including one depicting the torture of an infant and a 20-minute compilation of grotesque videos illustrating the brutal sexual assault of minors.
Joshua Smith maintained multiple Snapchat accounts under various aliases and frequently transitioned between them to evade detection. He was in communication with other paedophiles and possessed a guidebook detailing methods for grooming and abusing young females.
Following his release on bail during the police investigation, Joshua Smith, residing on Robert Street in Lower Gornal, persisted in soliciting further victims to submit him disturbing videos. His offences date back to 2019; nevertheless, despite the forensic analysis of his equipment, law enforcement was unable to identify certain victims.
Joshua Smith received an 18-count sentence for multiple sex crimes at Wolverhampton Crown Court, which included engaging in sexual correspondence with a 12-year-old, two 13-year-olds, and a 14-year-old girl, penetrating another child, and possessing category A, B, and C child pornography.
The mother of one of Joshua Smith’s victims told the court she “will never get the image out of her mind” after seeing a sexualised photo her daughter sent to Smith.
One of his victims bravely told the court: “I am not the same girl as I was before this happened. I used to be a bright bubbly girl and now I am closed off and insecure. This will be forever part of my life.”
Judge Jonathan Gosling KC told Joshua Smith: “Your crimes had a huge impact on your victims. You would pretend to be a child and then using the same method by telling them they were not old enough to talk about sex with you.
“You then would send them a list of sexual demands which you said would ‘get you off’. We have heard how your crimes effected these girls and their families.”
He added: “That you continued to commit these crimes whilst on bail shows me you are a danger to the public. Your depraved behaviour can only merit a custodial sentence.”
He added: “If I added each offences sentence up it could be over 30 years but because of totality I will not do that and several sentences run concurrently. I am sentencing you to 11 years imprisonment but you will be on licence for a further four years. And you will be subject to a detailed sexual harm prevention order.”
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