A man from Middlesborough, England was arrested recently on charges of luring a child to engage in sexual activity and owning indecent photos after children came forward saying he was posing as Justin Bieber online. Now, he’s been sentenced to over a decade in prison.
“Robert Hunter was a calculating and malicious predator who set out to coerce and bully young girls into exposing themselves over the internet,” Det Sgt Paul Higgins said.
35-year old Hunter pretended to be the pop star in order to lure underage girls into making videos and taking explicit pictures in exchange for being their “boyfriend”. Authorities found 800 videos on Hunter’s computer of both boys and girls–some as young as nine years old–and say he would threaten to release them if the children didn’t follow through on their promise to make more. The kids are from all around the world, including UK, France, Spain, Italy, Serbia, Asia and Canada, and one 12-year old girl reportedly harmed herself after Hunter made good on his threat, posting her photos and information on Facebook.
“It represents callous, almost sadistic exploitation over a number of years preying on girls’ naivety who were undermined by their own behaviour,” Judge Peter Bowers said.
Hunter pleaded guilty to 29 charges and was sentenced to 14 years in jail. He has reportedly agreed to seek help while in prison.
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