Scott West, a 40-year-old British male paedophile from Manchester, United Kingdom, was sentenced to 42 years in jail on June 23, 2025, after being convicted of three counts of child sexual exploitation.
During the sentencing hearing, the court learnt that West and an accomplice established an account on a widely used social networking platform, impersonating a young woman. Both individuals utilised the account to contact young boys for the purpose of soliciting sexually explicit photographs. Numerous juveniles approached by Scott West were located in the Central District of Illinois. Upon receiving sexually graphic photographs from a victim, Scott West would request additional images, coercing the victim with threats of exposure should they fail to acquiesce. Scott West would independently interact with youngsters online, deliberately soliciting sexually graphic photographs from teenage guys across many nations.
During the hearing, U.S. Chief District Judge Sara Darrow determined that the offence entailed the deliberate misrepresentation of a participant’s identity to persuade, induce, seduce, and force a youngster into engaging in sexually explicit activity.
Scott West was indicted in December 2022, and in June 2023, a request for his extradition was sent to the United Kingdom government. In October 2024, he was extradited to the United States by the United States Marshals Service and remains in their custody following the detention order issued by United States Magistrate Judge Jonathan E. Hawley. Scott West entered a guilty plea in January 2025.
The legal repercussions for child sexual exploitation entail a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years’ imprisonment per count, succeeded by a minimum of 5 years and potentially a life term of supervised release for each offence. Judge Darrow additionally mandated that Scott West undergo a ten-year period of supervised release.
“Scott West manipulated and preyed upon children on two continents in his quest to fulfill his own sexual desires.” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah E. Seberger. “This extradition and sentence ensured that his American victims received justice in the United States for his crimes. We will continue to work with law enforcement across the globe to bring justice to victims of abuse.”
“Adults should protect children, not prey upon them online as the predator in this case did to victims in multiple countries. The sentencing in this case reflects the heinousness of this man’s insidious actions to threaten and harm kids,” said Michael Kurzeja, Resident Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service Springfield Resident Office. “The Secret Service is committed to keeping children safe online and pursuing crimes committed against them. Thanks to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Central District of Illinois, the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Greater Manchester Police Serious Crime Division in England, the Illinois State Police and all of our local law enforcement partners for helping bring this defendant to justice.”
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in securing the defendant’s arrest and extradition from the United Kingdom.
The United States Secret Service and the Greater Manchester Police Online Child Abuse Investigation Team in England investigated the case, with assistance from the Illinois State Police and several local Illinois police departments and sheriffs’ offices: the Geneseo Police Department, the Colona Police Department, the Henry County Sheriff’s Office, and the Kewanee Police Department. Significant assistance was also provided by the U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Seberger represented the government in the prosecution.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) encourage parents to discuss online safety with their children and to ask for help from adults or professionals if they have experienced threats online. Children should know it is always okay to speak with a trusted adult if something they are experiencing online makes them uncomfortable. For more information contact gethelp@ncmec.org. NCMEC also has a CyberTipline for reporting child sexual exploitation.
If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this website, 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.