A paedophile from Gloucestershire has been jailed after manipulating young girls, aged between 12 and 15 years old, to send intimate images and videos to him.
Tyler Allen, 20 and of Vicarage Court in Brockworth, was sentenced at Gloucester Crown Court to 22 months detention in a young offenders' institution for crimes committed when he was 17 and 18 years old.
Allen threatened to kill and rape one of the girls when she refused to do what he demanded. Following an investigation by Gloucestershire Police's Child Exploitation Team he was charged with 10 offences which related to five girls.
On July 9, Allen pleaded guilty to six counts of causing/inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, two charges of causing a child to watch a sexual act and two charges of engaging in sexual communication with a child.
As well as being sentenced to 22 months detention, he was made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years.
The court was told that Allen's offending followed a common pattern of him manipulating conversations with girls online to become sexual in nature. He would then ask the children to send him naked photos and videos of themselves, including of them masturbating, and he would respond with images of his penis and videos of him masturbating.
The court was told that when he was met with resistance from the girls, he used emotional manipulation by saying he loved them or that he would harm himself if they did not comply.
Allen was aged 17, in 2023, when he was speaking online to a girl whom he knew was aged 12. They had met on an online platform and then communicated over SnapChat and text.
He asked her to send him images and videos, and Allen said that he wanted to buy her a train ticket for her 13th birthday so that they could meet in person. The girl made an excuse to not meet him, and he then threatened to rape and kill her.
Police were informed and Allen was arrested and his digital devices were seized for examination and an investigation began. He provided no comment in interview.
With one 15-year-old girl, he demanded images and then threatened to post them on social media platforms if she did not supply more. The court heard how she was really scared and so she sent Allen more images.
Other charges relate to online contact with children aged between 12 and 15. Allen was rearrested and it was found that he had breached his bail conditions which prohibited him from having unsupervised contact with anyone aged under 18.
In his mitigation, Allen's defence barrister said that he was introverted and that he was not looking for young girls online but that he was on the platforms for friendship. It was said that he accepted what he had done and that he regrets it, and Allen accepted that he would have harmed the girls by the pressure he put upon them.
In sentencing Allen, Judge Rupert Lowe spoke to him and said Allen's offending "does suggest you are a young man with a very serious ongoing problem and a very significant lack of control in the way you behave, with little knowledge of what your problem is".
Judge Lowe added: "I have to sentence you today for 10 offences involving sexual communications with girls between 12 and 15 years old, which involved inciting them to take sexualised photos and videos of themselves masturbating, or revealing their private parts, and in which you sent images of yourself doing the same sort of things, including ejaculating.
"During the course of communications you used emotional manipulation in that if they seemed to not want to do what you wanted, by telling them you loved them, and that you would not love them if they did not do X, Y and Z.
"Then using threats if that appeared to you to be more effective. To harm themselves or them if they did not do what you asked, even including threats to rape and kill the first of these victims.
"I am not suggesting you ever would, but that is a very nasty threat to make to a 12-year-old girl.
"You also threatened to distribute some of the images which you had obtained from these girls. In one case in particular, using that as a lever to get her to send more indecent images of herself."
Investigating officer, Police Staff Investigator Amber Jones said: "Allen cruelly manipulated and exploited children for his own sexual gratification.
"I welcome the Sexual Harm Prevention Order which has been granted which puts in place certain things which Allen is prohibited from doing, such as preventing contact with anyone aged under 16 and puts restrictions on the use of electronic devices.
"The victims in this case have shown great courage in coming forward, especially as what he did to them is an exceptionally difficult topic for people of any age to talk about.
"Our team works very hard behind the scenes in order to put perpetrators who pose a risk to children before the court and I would encourage anyone who has been subjected to similar abuse to please come forward and report this to the police."
A spokesperson for Gloucestershire Police said: "If you have concerns about your own use of the internet or inappropriate thoughts or behaviour about children, or you are worried about how someone you know behaves, you can contact the Lucy Faithfull Foundation online at: https://www.lucyfaithfull.org.uk/. You can also call the confidential Stop It Now! Helpline on 0808 1000 900.
"If you are worried about online abuse or the way someone has been communicating online, you can let the National Crime Agency's Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) team know by visiting: https://www.ceop.police.uk/Safety-Centre/.
"CEOP also have a number of educational materials which can be found here: https://prod.ceop.police.uk/Safety-Centre/What-happens-when-I-make-a-report-YP/What-happens-when-I-make-a-report-concerned-adult/."