A COMPUTER hacker who posed as young girls online and shared obscene videos before blackmailing those who watched them for £40,000 has been jailed for nine years.

Lee Philip Rees, 48, formerly of Northallerton, was first arrested in 2011, and released on bail while further examination of his computers took place by North Yorkshire Police's cyber crime team.

He then acquired another computer and continued to offend, moving to Wales, where he was eventually charged with 31 offences, including blackmail, distributing indecent images of children and computer hacking.

The court heard Rees separated from his wife in 2011, and she and her new partner discovered a file on his laptop which they believed contained indecent images.

They handed it to police, and Rees was arrested in May 2011, and eventually admitted posing as a 13-year-old girl in online chatrooms and encouraging paedophiles to show themselves on webcam.

Once they had done so, Rees threatened to expose them, and created a website to post their names, addresses and images, alongside the chatroom conversations. The men were told their details would be removed if they paid a fine, usually in the form of Amazon vouchers.

Rees told police he had received payments of between £25 and £100 from hundreds of victims, totalling £40,000 over a two-and-a-half-year period.

He told police he would "terrify the living daylights" out of his victims, and spent the money on holidays, expensive computer equipment, and sending money to individuals in Thailand.

One victim was given a choice between going to the police or making a donation to a children's charity, and told if he did not, everyone in his contacts list would be sent a video of a child being raped.

Sentencing Rees, Recorder of Cardiff Judge Eleri Rees said a psychiatric report showed Rees was a paedophile, despite denials to the Probation Service that he had any sexual interest in children.

The judge said: "I rejected the suggestion that you were conducting some kind of moral crusade, through the entrapment of paedophiles, or that the fact that some of the victims may themselves have committed offences somehow reduced your culpability.

"I have reached the conclusion that you derived much enjoyment and satisfaction in controlling and manipulating these individuals, preying on their fears and extracting for yourself significant financial gain."

Detective Chief Inspector Matt Walker of North Yorkshire Police led the initial investigation, before final prosecution was brought by South Wales Police and Tarian’s Regional Cyber Crime Unit.

He said: "This was a cynical, predatory and manipulative man who used sophisticated methods to carry out his offences, and a great deal of police work has gone into bringing Rees to justice.

"The nine year sentence handed out by Judge Eleri Rees sends a strong message to those who seek to use the internet to commit crime – there is no place to hide. The police will pursue you, and you will be caught."

*Rees was sentenced in June at Cardiff Crown Court, but reporting restrictions were applied to the sentencing until this week.