Snapchat predator jailed after grooming girl to carry out sex acts and self-harm

A man who groomed a 13-year-old girl using Snapchat so he could sexually abuse her and encourage her to self-harm has been jailed for 20 years at Manchester Crown Court with a five year extended licence – in one of the first cases to be prosecuted under a new offence created by the Online Safety Act.

Karl Davies, 42, set up several social media accounts using false names, pretending to be different teenage boys as part of a highly sophisticated plan to groom and exploit a thirteen-year-old girl over a twelve-month period. He went on to encourage her to self-harm and asked her to take videos of herself doing so.

The case is one of the first to be prosecuted under the offence of encouraging an act of self-harm, which was introduced by the Online Safety Act.

Stacey Gosling, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West, said: “As a seasoned prosecutor of grooming cases I have never before seen such sophisticated methods used to target a young person.

“Karl Davies went to great lengths to hide his identity and position himself as the child’s protector when he was anything but.

“He groomed the girl using six different snapchat accounts, first luring her in with compliments and building her trust, before turning to threats when she wouldn’t share explicit materials and do what he asked of her.

“He also encouraged her to self-harm, giving no thought to the lasting impact his vile and cruel abuse would have on his young victim.

“I can only hope that as Davies begins his prison sentence, the victim can begin to move forward knowing her vile abuser has been brought to justice.”

Detective Sergeant Robert Griffiths, from GMP’s Stockport district, said: “Davies callously and methodically exploited a vulnerable girl, subjecting her to disgusting abuse and vile, degrading acts.

“He is a dangerous individual who has committed horrible crimes – encouraging a young girl to harm herself is particularly abhorrent. By using fakes personas to emit sustained control over this young girl, he severely impacted all aspects of her life and I am glad he is now behind bars, where he can be no one but himself.

“I want to take this opportunity to praise the girl who was the victim in this case. Her bravery and resilience in providing information to officers was truly courageous, and I know she is continuing to get the support she needs as she moves forward with her life."

Davies contact with the victim first started in 2023 when he contacted her online, then 13 years old, under a false name, posing as a 16-year-old boy.

Over time, he introduced her to other males with different social media accounts, when in reality, it was Davies behind all these accounts.

Under different names, Davies asked for explicit videos and images, and threatened her; by stating he would send explicit images he had previously received from her to her family or the police if she didn’t do as he asked.

He also asked her to take videos of her hurting herself and share it with him and later, when they met in person, he provided her with a razor to use for self-harming.

After grooming her for several months, Davies, posing as ‘Mark’ arranged to meet the girl and collected her from school in June 2024.

Davies drove her to a secluded location before engaging in sexual activity with her. During the meeting, she told him how angry she was with one of the other boys online who had been threatening her. Davies used this as an opportunity to position himself as her protector, giving her advice about how to deal with the situation and telling her to cut contact with the others, when all the time it was him who was operating all the accounts.

He then went on to meet her on several other occasions, each time engaging with sexual activity.

The offending came to light when a family member contacted the police, and the child felt able to share what had happened to her.

Using the information given by the victim in her interview, the police were able to trace that car she was picked up in, which was leased to Davies. A photograph of Davies was also recovered from the victim’s social media account.

Davies was arrested on 11 February 2025 and made no comment in his police interview.

On 22 May 2025, Davies pleaded guilty to seventeen child sex offences plus an offence of encouraging or assisting serious self-harm.

On 20 October 2025, Davies was jailed for 20 years with a five year extended licence and an indefinite restraining order was also imposed.