Paedophile who falsely posed as a River Island model scout is jailed

Sick paedophile who falsely posed as a River Island model scout on TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram to lure children into carrying out sexual acts just MONTHS after being released from prison for similar offences is jailed for 30 years

• Paedophile David Harmes, 27, targeted 45 youngsters aged between six and 15
• Harmes used aliases to falsely claim that he was a model scout for River Island

A sick paedophile who posed as a model scout to lure child victims into carrying out sexual acts just months after being released from prison for similar offences was today jailed for 30 years.

David Harmes, 27, targeted 45 youngsters aged between six and 15 after messaging them through Instagram, Snapchat or TikTok from his bedsit.

Using aliases including ‘Jess’, who he falsely claimed was a model scout for high street fashion outlet River Island, Harmes would stage fake auditions.

The ‘warped’ pervert would then tell them to ‘twirl’ for the camera, pose in bikinis or underwear and eventually strip naked.

If they refused to carry out further demands he would threaten to expose them by sending videos to their friends.

David Harmes, 27, of Winsford, Cheshire, was ordered to sign the sex offenders register indefinitely

Horrifyingly, despite being on the sex offenders register having just been freed on licence halfway through an eight-year prison sentence for posing as fashion blogger Zoella to groom young children online, it was six months before Harmes was finally stopped.

It’s believed he contacted as many as 300 different children before being put back behind bars, however many have yet to be identified.

In harrowing victim impact statements read out at Chester Crown Court, youngsters described the ‘trauma’ and mental health issues they had suffered.

They told how their lives had been ‘damaged’ after Harmes had ‘taken away their innocence’.

One called Harmes ‘low and disgusting’ for exploiting children and said the thought he could do this to someone else ‘seriously makes my stomach turn’.

‘I wish nothing else for all this to go away and for you to get what you deserve,’ she added.

One parent, a teaching assistant, said they had suffered stress and anxiety and had been forced to take time off work because they felt they had ‘failed to protect’ their daughter’ and didn’t feel they should be in charge of looking after other people’s children.

Nicholas Williams, prosecuting, said Harmes had been ‘prolific’ in contacting children in both the UK and US.

The ‘warped’ pervert would tell victims to ‘twirl’ for the camera, pose in bikinis or underwear and eventually strip naked

it’s believed Harmes contacted as many as 300 different children before being put back behind bars, however many have yet to be identified

He would then persuade them to download the now closed Google Hangouts app so they could video call each other before using screen capture software to record the footage.

Examination of his laptop showed Harmes had used at least 30 different identities to contact children, including posing as a ‘Jess’, a supposed model scout for River Island.

Victims would be told that the scout was looking for girls aged 10 to 14 to help launch a new Spring collection and that if they passed an online trial they would earn £1,200.

‘When she responded, he would ask the girl to walk up and down on camera to score points to be considered for a contract and/or financial reward,’ Mr Williams said.

‘The victim would then have to remove clothing and perform increasingly serious sexual acts in order score the required number of points.’

Having contacted one victim he would then target their friends or siblings or children from the same school, Mr Williams said.

Detectives were able to track him after police received a report in January 2020 that an 11-year-old child was being groomed.

He was identified by his computer’s IP address and Instagram user name as the person who had been in contact with her.

The court heard Harmes took part in a programme for treating sex offenders while in prison

Detectives matched Harmes through his distinctive bedding to images found on his devices, as well as footage that showed his face after he accidentally filmed himself for a few seconds.

He was arrested in February 2020, recalled on licence and sent back to prison.

Examination of his laptop revealed more than 2,000 indecent images, of which 100 were Category A, the most serious type, the court heard.

Harmes, of Winsford, Cheshire, pleaded guilty to charges included possessing, making and distributing indecent images, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, sexual communication with a child and engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child at a previous hearing.

The offences related to 45 victims – 39 in the UK and six in the USA – over a six-month period.

Simon Mills, defending, said there were times it was appropriate to make ‘an open public recognition’ of the ‘horrifying nature’ of what their client had done, given the ‘sheer scale’ of Harmes’ offending and the harm he had caused.

He said Harmes ‘accepts full responsibility’ and didn’t seek to minimise the seriousness of what he’d done.

In 2016 he was jailed for eight years after posing as popular celebrities including fashion icon Zoë Sugg and a modelling agent to trick almost 300 girls into degrading sex acts.

He would tell besotted fans to pose in swimwear and underwear to ‘score points’ to be in with a chance of winning tickets to see or meet the stars he pretended to be.

In February 2019 he was released on licence under the terms of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Today that order was renewed and he was ordered to sign the sex offenders register indefinitely.

Afterwards Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Jiro Asafa said: ‘Harmes is a prolific and dangerous sex offender who played on the hopes and aspirations of children to gratify his warped sexual desires.

‘The feelings of the children involved meant nothing to him.

‘We hope that this case sends a message out to children and parents that caution is required at all times when engaging with people on the internet as they may not be what they seem.

‘We also hope it shows potential online abusers that they will be caught and brought to justice.’

The court heard Harmes took part in a programme for treating sex offenders while in prison.

After his release he was ordered to undergo polygraph – lie detector – testing which revealed one minor, unrelated concern.

Judge Simon Berkson said the sentence – which would have been 45 years had Harmes not admitted the offences – reflected the ‘sheer scale’ and ‘depravity’ of his crimes.

‘This was sophisticated criminal offending using the internet by a criminal who was prepared to lie and deceive young children to meet your sexual desires towards children,’ he said.

‘The offences are of the worst type and this was sophisticated offending by a defendant who has many relevant previous convictions and who was in breach of many of the prohibitions of a court order and was on licence at the time of the offending.’

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