Jake Collins, 21, contacted a woman who had waited for him on a date for months using a fake profile.
This week, a man was jailed for blackmailing a woman he threatened with violence on a date he had two years prior.
Jake Collins, 21 years old, from Filey in North Yorkshire, was sentenced to 18-months imprisonment
He tracked down the woman aged 20 who had rejected him due to her having met someone else. He then contacted her via a fake profile.
Collins pestered the woman for months to send him nude images of her body. She refused repeatedly, but Collins kept trying.
He then claimed he could pay her tens of thousands of pounds for the revealing photos and offered £6,000 for a ‘boob pic’, York Crown Court heard.
Collins reached out again to the woman under a new fake profile after she continued her refusal to answer his requests.
He claimed that his profile was hacked, and that it was someone else who wanted the nude images.
Austin Newman, Prosecutor, stated that the complainant appeared to have been taken into and they started chatting via Facebook. He asked her to add him to Snapchat as a friend.
“Once she did this, he started to request naked photos of her and eventually the complainant weakened sent the defendant ten videos and pictures showing her exposed breasts.”
Collins responded by sending her a full frontal image of a naked man. It was supposed to be him but was a fake.
He later messaged her ‘send me the pics and I will send money’ as the woman realised she had been sent £10 via PayPal.
Shortly after Collins sent a Facebook message to her new boyfriend saying ‘she had screwed him and she had until 3pm that day to reimburse the defendant,’ the prosecutor added.
The young woman informed her partner about what had happened, and he took screenshots of the message.
Collins pestered her throughout May and August for the money. Collins sent her two naked photographs and threatened to publish them unless she did not pay.
Collins was then arrested and taken into police custody.
In a statement she made to the court, she said: “I feel upset and mad that I let this happen to to me.”
“I couldn’t understand how anyone, especially a friend, could do such a thing to me.
“I couldn’t fall asleep because I was afraid that my intimate images would be seen and viewed by others.
“I lost my appetite and didn’t feel like eating.” My life has been impacted by what happened to me.
‘I feel like my personality has changed in relation to people I have known over the years, such my family and acquaintances.
Collins claimed he could pay her tens of thousands of pounds for the revealing photos and offered £6,000 for a ‘boob pic’, York Crown Court heard
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able get over the panic you felt when the threat was made to send personal images to my family and friends.
Collins claimed that he told police that he met the complainant “a few years ago” and first messaged her via Facebook under a false account in September 2019. She replied with a wave emoji.
He said: ‘The defendant replied that they had access to tens and thousands of pounds, and asked the complainant if he wanted some money.
“She joked that he should send some. Once he had drawn her into the conversation on Facebook he sent her a message saying if she sent him a picture of her breasts he would send her £6,000.
“She thought he was making fun of himself and sent him a thumbs-up emoji. He took that as a sign to go on. He sent her sexual messages asking her for naked images.
“Asked why he did it, he said that he wasn’t motivated by financial gain or because he was rejected by the complainant.
Graham Parkin, mitigating, begs for mercy, adding: “He still can’t explain the rationale and mentality of what was done to him.”
“He fully understands the folly in his actions and that it has had a serious impact on the complainant.”
Judge Simon Hickey however stated that blackmail is one of the most serious crimes. In the past, the Lord Chief Justice described it as “murder in the soul”.
‘Unfortunately you were known to this young lady. You contacted her unsolicited. Once you had drawn her in you offered her £6,000 for “boob pics”.
She thought that was a joke, and gave her thumbs up. Unfortunately, she took this as a green signal and asked for further photos.
‘Unfortunately, she had then been “taken in” by his hacking story and given him the photographs, two of which he later used to demand his £10 back.
“The implication was that these intimate images would be exposed to the entire world.
Collins admitted to blackmailing and porn-revenge offences between May 2020 & August 2020.
He was held for 18 months with half of his sentence served.