Man who used Snapchat to blackmail young girls and made them perform sex acts is jailed

A man who used Snapchat to blackmail young girls around the world into sending pictures and performing sex acts has been jailed.

Ishmael Duncan, 24, of Walnut Tree Walk, Lambeth, admitted to a variety of charges, including blackmailing a 14-year-old girl with learning difficulties who sent him images, and offering her $1,000 (£804) to engage in a sexual act with her brother.

One of his victims, who read an impact statement before the court, said: “I was 11 years old when you first made contact with me. At this time I was a vulnerable young girl struggling with my confidence and suffering from anxiety.

“For months I could not bring myself to leave my home because of the thought of you finding me and telling everyone what I did.

“I was petrified that you would find me and come to my house and hurt, perhaps kill myself or one of my family members. I used to wake up in the middle of the night thinking that you were inside my house which terrified me.

“You have made me suffer for four years and I feel that what you did to me will stay with me forever.”

Duncan was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment at Inner London Crown Court today. He was also given a lifetime Sexual Harm Prevention Order, placed on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely and handed a forfeiture order in relation to three phones and a laptop.

In a statement read before the court, another victim said: “I hope children become more aware of people like him because they will know how to protect themselves. For any other victims of these crimes I have a message for you: ‘It is ok to say no, don’t be afraid to say it. Your mental health matters and make sure to tell people when it happens because they can help you to feel better’.”

The case against Duncan comprised of 28 female victims, some as young as nine, from the UK, US, Canada and Australia.

But investigators believe he contacted close to 10,000 children online from social media platform Snapchat, using different accounts.

Duncan would approach potential victims to ask if they were interested in becoming a model for well-known fashion brands.

He then took victims through a lengthy interview process to build their trust, and sent them legitimate looking contracts which featured the impersonated brand’s logo.

He would request topless photos on the pretext of assessing the victims’ body shape, and to use as a base for editing in potential clothes to be modelled. Girls who challenged this were told the original photos would be deleted after editing, with some threatened with being “blacklisted” from modelling if they didn’t comply.

He would send this message to the young girls: “This is an automated message. We have your nudes, and unless you reply to this message saying “I understand,” they will be sent out to expose accounts on Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter.

“If you reply with anything else other than “I understand,” or if you block or unfriend this account, your nudes will be sent out. This is your first and only warning.”

Duncan was arrested in July 2021 at his home in Lambeth, and a number of devices were seized. Material recovered from these and cloud storage included chat logs from the various Snapchat accounts Duncan used, and indecent images he had extorted from children.

In total, officers recovered 19,120 indecent images of children in categories A-C, A being the most severe, from his devices and cloud storage.

NCA operations manager Martin Ludlow said: “Ishmael Duncan’s offending was systematic, manipulative and heartless.

“He cruelly exploited young girls who had aspirations of becoming models, purely for his own sexual gratification.

“I would like to commend the bravery of all of these young victims for coming forward to help bring Duncan to justice today.”

Pictured top: Ismael Duncan was sentenced to 18 years in jail (Picture: NCA)