Teen tried to take own life over pics blackmail
A MAN blackmailed and threatened women to send him nude photographs after befriending them on Tinder and Snapchat.
One of Liam Walsh’s teenage victims was so worried by the months of threats he subjected her to that she tried to take her own life. It was her desperate act that led to a police hunt for the perpetrator.
Swansea Crown Court heard the investigation led to the house where Walsh was living with his partner and young daughter.
Sending the defendant to prison, the judge described his behaviour towards his victims as “despicable and cruel”.
Gareth Waite, prosecuting, said police were first alerted to Walsh’s activities in July 2018 when the mother of teenage girl came forward to say her daughter had been rushed to A&E after an attempt to end her own life, following which she had revealed she was being sent threatening messages by a man asking for pictures of her.
An investigation was launched and two other women who had been experiencing similar threats from the same social media accounts were identified.
The court heard 23-year-old Walsh would use a number of bogus identities, including Sam Jones and Rhys Phills, to befriend the women on apps including Tinder and Snapchat. He would then encourage them to send photographs and once he had one image would threaten them by telling them he would post the snaps on Facebook and Instagram for friends and family to see unless they sent him nude images.
The prosecutor said one of Walsh’s victims was a law student and had been left terrified of the consequences for her future career if the defendant carried out his threats.
The court heard that in some cases the threats to publish the images – or even to sell them to pornography websites – had gone on for months, causing huge anxiety to the victims.
By August the police had identified who was behind the fake accounts and they went to Walsh’s then-home in Pontarddulais and seized his phone. In the Vault app on his mobile they found photographs of women “in various stages of undress” – two of which were of a girl under 18.
In his interview, the defendant admitted befriending women on Tinder and Snapchat and asking for photos and then issuing “empty threats” for further images. He said he had done it to “around 10 women” but could not remember all their names.
The prosecutor said Walsh told police it was an “obsession” he had and he hated himself for what he had done. Walsh, now of Wade Avenue, Ystalyfera, admitted three counts of sending malicious communications and two of possessing indecent images of a child.
James Hartson, for Walsh, accepted the defendant was guilty of “deeply unpleasant offending” which would trouble the court.
He said his that since his arrest his client had been diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum which may “go some way to explain but not excuse” his behaviour.
Judge Catherine Richards described what Walsh had done to his victims as “despicable and cruel” behaviour which had seriously impacted the lives and wellbeing of the women involved.
She said she would be failing in her public duty were she to impose any sentence other than immediate custody. He was jailed for a total of 16 months. Walsh will be a registered sex offender for the next seven years and has been made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for the same length of time.
Speaking after the sentencing, Dyfed-powys Police detective constable Vicki Anderton said it was crucial victims of such offending spoke up.
She said: “Crimes like this thrive on fear and embarrassment and I would like to reassure anyone reading this that you will never be judged for sending pictures or other content online to a friend or to a stranger.
“Just because you have sent someone something it does not give them the right to intimidate you.” ■ For confidential support the Samaritans can be contacted for free around the clock on 116 123.