A ‘MANIPULATIVE’ sexual predator from Ashton who blackmailed teenage girls into doing ‘unthinkable acts’ online for his own sexual pleasure has been jailed.

Kyle Lees, 21, of Ann Street, was jailed for 14 years at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on May 13, after admitting a total of 35 offences – including making indecent images of a child, possessing extreme pornography, blackmail and causing child pornography.

The court heard how a sting on a dark-web site saw GMP’s Online Child Abuse Investigation Team uncover Lees’ prolific offending, which included blackmailing victims as young as 14.

Detectives from GMP discovered Lees had created several fake online male and female personas when contacting his victims – who were all girls aged between 14 and 16 at the time – with analysis of his online accounts revealing he had attempted to contact around 3,500 profiles on several social media and chat room sites.

Lees, who was arrested at his home in Tameside in June 2021, would obtain material from victims and then use it as blackmail to get more; threatening them by saying he would release the pictures to his family or on the internet.

Some victims were even coerced into sexual activity with animals, which Lees would ask for content of for his own sexual gratification.

The victims included one teenage girl from Greater Manchester.

Lees has been ordered to serve 14 years behind bars and a further five years on licence and indefinitely been signed to the sex offenders’ register. He was also given a lifetime sexual harm prevention order.

Detective Inspector Suzanne Keenaghan, of GMP’s Online Child Abuse Investigation Team, said: “Kyle Lees is an abhorrent, calculated and manipulative sexual predator who was a significant danger to teenage girls online and it’s of great satisfaction that he will now begin a significant spell behind bars for his sickening crimes.

“Lees would hunt out vulnerability and blackmail his victims into doing unthinkable acts purely for his own sexual pleasure, and it is clear he got braver over time when he was sat behind his computer screen embarking on this depraved campaign which ruined the lives of innocent children.

“I must pay tribute to the survivors of this abuse and their families for their bravery and support during this investigation and I hope that seeing Lees put behind bars brings some element of closure.”

Anyone with information or concerns about someone being sexually abused is encouraged to contact police online via the LiveChat facility on the GMP website or by calling 101.

Details can also be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.