Magnet fishing YouTuber sentenced for child sexual offences

A Birmingham man has been sentenced after he ejaculated over a slice of cake he gave to a child.

Karl Ball of Simmons Drive, Birmingham was sentenced to 32 months imprisonment yesterday (28 February 2024) at Wolverhampton Crown Court after admitting several child sexual offences. 

The 35-year-old pleaded guilty to two counts of engaging in sexual communication with a child, two counts of sexual assault on a female and two counts of causing or inciting a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity. 

The Crown Prosecution Service said Ball, who runs a YouTube channel about magnet fishing, used social media to groom his 14-year-old victim.

In messages he sent to the victim, Ball used sexualised language, and sent various messages referring to sexual intercourse and what he would do to the child. He also sent sexually explicit photos and encouraged the victim to send naked photos of herself, although she refused to send him any explicit photos.

When he met the child, he touched her inappropriately and sexually assaulted her before giving her what he called a ‘special cake’.

The victim ate some of the cake when she got home but found it tasted strange and when she told the defendant, he admitted he had ejaculated over the cake. The victim felt disgusted by this and put the cake in the bin.

His offending came to light after the victim’s parents saw the messages on her phone and reported the matter to the police.

The police found Ball’s DNA on the ‘special cake’ after remnants of it were retrieved from the bin and forensically analysed.

The defendant appeared before Dudley Magistrates’ Court on 2 May 2023 and pleaded guilty to all offences. 

Cagin Husnu of the CPS said: “The crimes committed by Karl Ball in this case are abhorrent – and the fact that his offending culminated in him giving her a ‘special’ cake, which he had ejaculated over and manipulating her to try, is simply repulsive. No one in our society, let alone children, should be treated in such a degrading manner and it is our aim to ensure that we work collaboratively with the police to ensure that offenders are held accountable for their crimes.” 

He was also made subject to a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) for 10 years, and a restraining order for 10 years barring him from contacting the child and her family.