A man from Leeds has been sentenced to two years in prison for offences connected to an online campaign of abuse involving 117 victims worldwide. The National Crime Agency (NCA) said it started investigating Justin Swaddle, 20, from Leeds, in January 2024. Swaddle was arrested by West Yorkshire Police in October 2023 for offences including possession, making and distribution of indecent images, and his digital devices were seized. Officers then investigated his online activity. The NCA said Swaddle used social media platforms including Snapchat, Telegram and Discord, operating under usernames including “Epstein”, “Rugen” and “Moscow”. The investigation found hundreds of conversations of a sexual nature involving young girls, and that he was operating in a “Com group” — an online community linked to criminality, including coercing victims to physically harm or sexually abuse themselves. According to the NCA, investigators identified 117 female victims worldwide aged 13 to 17. The NCA said eight of those victims were in the UK and that Swaddle had been in communication with them. The NCA said one victim, 17, described meeting Swaddle through Discord before conversations moved to Snapchat, where sexual content and self-harm were discussed. The NCA also said Telegram messages recovered from Swaddle’s device showed he attempted to incite a child to sexually abuse a younger child and record it. The investigation also found images on his devices depicting victims with self-harm injuries and his aliases carved into their skin, along with indecent images of children. Swaddle was charged with child sexual abuse offences and blackmail. He pleaded guilty to all offences at Leeds Crown Court on 2 July. He was sentenced at the same court on 10 August and will be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years. The NCA said he is also required to sign the National Sex Offenders Register. The judge described the case as one of the more extreme matters he had seen, and said Swaddle was a “predatory” offender targeting children online.