Man who blackmailed children into sending him indecent images jailed

A man who pretended to be a teenage girl on social media to blackmail young boys into sending him nude images has been sentenced to 21 years in prison.

Jay Morgan Taylor Lang, 24, appeared at Basildon Crown Court today (22 September 2023) for sentencing after he pleaded guilty to a total of 46 charges including blackmail, causing a child to engage in sexual activity, causing child sexual exploitation and arranging the commission of a child sex offence.

Lang received a 21-year prison sentence and was given an additional six-year extended licence.  

The CPS prosecuted Lang, of Basildon, Essex, following an investigation by Essex Police which identified more than 20 victims. 

Between 2019 and 2022, Lang used social media to create multiple fake accounts on Instagram and Snapchat, pretending to be a teenage girl in order to target boys between the ages of 11 and 16. 

Whilst posing as a girl online, the defendant would initiate flirtatious and sexual conversations with the victims, sending them nude photos to incite them into sending indecent images or videos of themselves.

Unbeknown to the victims, the defendant would use a screen recording application on his mobile device to record any interaction he had with each of them. This allowed Lang to create a library of his offending which included any texts, calls, images or videos exchanged between him and the victims.

Lang later used these recordings to blackmail his victims into paying him money or to carry out more sexually explicit acts with the threat of him exposing their images and videos online if they refused. 

In the most extreme case Lang manipulated one of the victims to such a degree that it resulted in the boy agreeing to meet with the defendant and being subjected to sexual abuse.

When Lang was arrested at his home address, various digital equipment was seized which provided a wealth of digital evidence linking the defendant to his offences, including numerous chat logs and screen recordings.

Jeanette Smith, Specialist Prosecutor for the CPS, said: “Jay Lang was calculating in his offending and created a false persona to target young boys online.

“The male victims in this case believed they were talking to a real teenage girl but became trapped in a web of fear where their own images became tools of manipulation and extortion by Lang, leaving them increasingly vulnerable to his depraved demands.            

“This conviction sends a clear message that the CPS, alongside the police, will work hard to bring justice to those who sexually abuse and exploit children, however that abuse takes place.

“We urge victims to report these crimes, there is support out there and you are not alone.”

Detective Sergeant Ben Rushmere, who leads the child sexual exploitation proactive investigation team at Essex Police, said: “Today’s sentence rightly highlights the true scale of Lang’s horrific offending. He used social media to prey upon young people and exploit them either for financial gain or for his own gratification.

“But much more important than Lang, I would like to commend each and every victim, and their families, who came forward and worked with us. It is only with their candour and support that we have been able to build a case so strong that Lang was left with no other option but to admit 46 extremely serious offences.

“This is without doubt the largest scale child exploitation investigation Essex Police has ever embarked upon and it has required extraordinary commitment from our team to ensure each identified victim has received justice.”