Two men jailed for horrific online sexual exploitation of children in legal first as CPS tackles Violence Against Women and Girls

Two men who committed unspeakable acts of violence against vulnerable children have been jailed as the CPS continues to crack down on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).

Charlie Johnson, 24, and Prince Singh, 23, encouraged their victims to self-harm before illegally sharing indecent images and videos of them in online chat rooms.

The case involved two girls as young as 16, who made complaints to separate police forces across the UK. It demonstrates the growing complexity of technology-facilitated child sexual abuse and exploitation.

Today, at Woolwich Crown Court, Johnson was sentenced to four years in prison, while Singh was sentenced to two years and nine months.

The new CPS VAWG Strategy recognises the increasing prevalence and evolving nature of technology-enabled offending, and commits to building and sharing knowledge to ensure robust prosecutions and the right support for victims.

Jessica Lunan, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Charlie Johnson and Prince Singh committed devastating acts of violence and coercion against their young vulnerable victims. 

“Through online chat rooms, they exploited and preyed upon young girls from different parts of the UK by illegally sharing indecent images of them and encouraging them to commit acts of self-harm. 

“Our prosecutors work tirelessly to protect victims and bring offenders to justice. Sharing indecent images of children is a criminal offence, and those who do so will face the full force of the law.”

Johnson and Singh encouraged their victims to self-harm for their own sexual gratification – and displayed several examples of controlling or coercive behaviour that made the victims feel they had no choice but to comply with their requests. 

Johnson illegally obtained indecent images of his victims which were later shared in a group chat with many other people. In addition to the charges relating to indecent images of children and encouraging self-harm, Johnson was also convicted of three counts of assault by beating and three counts of common assault. 

The offenders were sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court today after prosecutors successfully proved the horrific nature of their offending. This case marks the first time defendants have been convicted of assisting or encouraging serious self-harm (an offence which was introduced under the Online Safety Act 2023) following a jury trial. The defendants were also convicted of making and distributing indecent images of children.

Police also uncovered evidence of messages between the defendants, where they discussed the prospect of having sexual relations with girls as young as 13.

Building the case: tackling child sexual abuse and indecent images of children

Prosecutors need to start by asking: how do we show the court the full extent of harm when abuse crosses from physical violence into the digital world?

To do that, they had to work with police to link patterns of behaviour. The defendants encouraged victims to self-harm for sexual gratification, demonstrating coercive control, and prosecutors needed to show this was not isolated but part of a sustained campaign of abuse. 

Prosecutors also had to consider whether deprivation orders were necessary to prevent further harm. In this case, confiscating devices was vital to stop re-victimisation and protect other potential victims.

As the CPS VAWG Strategy sets out, the CPS is taking steps to ensure prosecutors have the right guidance and support to respond to technology-facilitated offending, and our recently updated Communications Offences guidance prompts prosecutors to make better use of deprivation orders.

By combining charges that reflected both physical harm and abuse committed through digital means, prosecutors ensured the sentences reflected the seriousness and complexity of the offending against vulnerable victims.

Dr Bob Nowill, Chair of The Cyber Trust, a charity which helps to protect children and vulnerable people from online abuse, said: “This case underlines the need for comprehensive Cyber Security advice and education in particular for vulnerable young people and their parents so that they all may access online information safely and appropriately.  In this case, we can see the dangers of online chat rooms through exploitation by people that try and get in contact with users of such spaces for criminal purposes.”