Online predator, 20, from Birmingham pretended to be a 12 year-old girl at gymnastics club

An online predator who pretended to be a 12-year-old girl to encourage other young people to share indecent images has been jailed.

West Midlands Police discovered Dominic Woodcock had used a fake profile on various social media channels to befriend young girls between 2021 and 2023.

He claimed to be involved in a gymnastics club and encouraged girls - mainly aged between 10 and 12 - to pursue such a career. However, once a rapport was established Woodcock would request indecent images of the girls and threatened to expose them on social media if they refused.

After being alerted to his depraved behaviour police said they quickly identified and arrested Woodcock from Erdington in Birmingham - seizing his phone and finding concerning images and messages.

The 20-year-old pleaded guilty to possession of indecent images and engaging children into sexual activity at Birmingham Crown Court and was jailed for four years and eight months on Wednesday, April 3 and put on the sex offenders register for life.

Dc Justin Mulholland, from West Midlands Police public protection unit, said: "This was despicable behaviour which would have continued had we not managed to identify and arrest Woodcock. He posed as a girl called Chloe and took advantage of young children to satisfy his own depraved desires.

"We believe there could be more young girls who were exposed to his wicked ways and we'd ask anyone who suspects their child may have been targeted to report this to us. You can do this by calling 101 or Live Chat on our website. You can also report online concerns and get further online safety via the Child Exploitation and Online Protection website.”