Back in 2021, Thomas Martin, the Andover Paedophile, aged 30, created a Snapchat account under the username ‘TomLock11’ and encountered a 15-year-old girl soliciting someone to purchase tobacco for her. He consented, but in exchange for an image of her breasts, she complied and forwarded his account to her buddy, who also desired tobacco.
After acquiring indecent photographs of the two girls, Thomas Martin coerced them into providing additional images by threatening to publicly disclose the existing ones if they failed to acquiesce.
Russell Pyne, representing the prosecution, informed Winchester Crown Court that Thomas Martin, residing at Launcelot Court, Andover, transmitted photos of his genitalia and compelled his victims to observe him engage in masturbation.
Mr Pyne stated: “(One of the victims) requested that he delete the material he possessed.” The defendant stated that he would not, yet he would share them on four social media platforms: Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
The second girl stated her intention to report to the authorities, but he menaced her by asserting that he would devastate her life more than she could damage his. He transmitted an inappropriate image of the girl to her friend.
The extortion ceased when the victim’s stepmother observed the girl attempting to capture an inappropriate photograph.
Thomas Martin was apprehended, and an examination of his phone revealed the presence of indecent images: one classified as Category A, considered the most severe by law enforcement, ten categorised as Category B, and two as Category C.
One of the victims stated: “The ordeal I endured undoubtedly disrupted my life for a period.” It was humiliating; I feared that others would discover what transpired. I was unaware of Tom Lock’s identity or whether he recognised me.
The other victim expressed feelings of violation following the incident, resulting in panic episodes.
Thomas Martin earlier entered a guilty plea to two counts of blackmail occurring between May 1 and October 21, 2019, involving the disclosure of private sexual pictures with the aim to inflict anguish, as well as three charges of producing an indecent photograph of a minor.
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