Online groomer who posed as 12-year-old girl to target boys jailed

Ben Thompson (25/07/2001) of Bolton, pretended to be a teenage girl online to abuse young boys. He pleaded guilty to 28 counts of inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and sexual communications with a child under 13, as well as three charges of possessing indecent images.

He has been sentenced for four years in jail at Bolton Crown Court and has been put on the sex offenders register for life and will be subjected to a 10 year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

An investigation by our specialist Child Protection Investigation Unit in Bolton found that Thompson engaged dozens of teenage boys in sexualised conversations by pretending to a young girl called Erin, using the alias ‘Erinstewart788’.

Thompson adopted the profile of a young female of similar age to whom he was communicating with, and he would spend time building rapport with the victims before demanding sexually explicit images and videos.

In June 2020, a report of online grooming was made to police by the parents of an eleven-year-old boy. Immediate safeguarding measures were put in place and an investigation was launched.

Following extensive digital enquiries, we were able to identify who was responsible for this fake account, and we tracked Thompson to an address in Lostock, Bolton. On 12 November 2020, police executed a warrant at his home address. 

His mobile devices were seized, and in total, our Digital Investigation Unit found over two million images on his devices, with over one thousand indecent images and videos he had extorted from children.

Enquiries uncovered thousands of sexualised messages by Thompson with underage boys, not just in Manchester, but across the South West and North East of England. If they didn’t comply, he would often intimidate them, saying ‘block me and you’ll regret it’ or by threatening to post their pictures online if they didn’t do what he asked.

Despite giving no comment interviews on several occasions, our officers worked tirelessly to secure charges against Thompson. Following a lengthy and complex investigation, Ben Thompson has now been put behind bars.

Detective Sergeant Matt Quayle from Bolton’s Child Protection Investigation Unit said: “I would like to thank our victims and survivors who showed immense courage by coming forward to police and providing vital evidence to secure Thompson’s conviction.

“Thompson is a calculated and depraved individual who coerced teenage boys into sexual behaviour for his own perverse sexual gratification. When they didn’t comply, he sent them vile threats which we know had a huge impact on the young victims and their mental health.

“We know how uncomfortable it can be to make reports of this nature, but I would urge anyone who has been affected by this case or suspects their child may have been targeted by this social media account, please come forward and report this to us.

“You are not alone, you are not to blame, and we have specially trained officers and partners who will support you.”