Vile predator who blackmailed young girls into harming themselves is jailed
Bradley Talbot was the moderator for a 6,000-person blackmailing ring on a Telegram forum that also coerced children into taking indecent images
Bradley Talbot
A vile predator who blackmailed young girls into harming themselves has been jailed
Bradley Talbot was the moderator for a 6,000-person blackmailing ring on a Telegram forum that also coerced children into taking indecent images.
A National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation exposed Talbot (29) from Baffins, in Portsmouth as a core member of the forum.
More than 100 child victims, aged between 12 and 17, were identified with at least a quarter believed to be from the UK.
Portsmouth Crown Court handed Talbot a seven-and-a-half year prison sentence as well as a lifetime sexual harm prevention order.
The NCA said messages on the Telegram group showed Talbot was “actively involved in marketing and advertising blackmail child abuse content”.
“He was regularly involved in deciding how the group conducted its activities in order to seek further content,” they added.
Com groups are online collectives of individuals who work together or compete to cause harm across a range of criminality, from cybercrime to child sexual abuse.
They target children on social media, initiating chats before coercing them to send photos of themselves.
In time, they would escalate the request to indecent images before making further explicit demands and threatening to share the images with the victim's family if they do not comply.
Talbot, who used the handle DaveTheStag, was additionally involved in livestreaming abuse through video chats, the NCA said.
Investigators found he was “seeking status” as a core group member and also had a sexual interest in children.
He tried to conceal evidence by disposing of a hard drive and deleting the Telegram app from his phone before 19 devices were seized from his address.
In one, he discussed providing a short video showcasing the abuse held on the channel, stating 'it'll be a good way to entice people to join'. Other messages showed he was involved in livestream abuse of children, directing the abuse through video chats.
Talbot was charged with participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group, arranging or facilitating the sexual exploitation of a child under 13 and distributing an indecent image of a child. He pleaded guilty in a hearing at Portsmouth Crown Court on 29 April 2025.
He was sentenced to seven years and six months' imprisonment yesterday and will have a lifetime Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).
Wayne Johns, Head of CSA investigations at the NCA, said Talbot operated callously online, “with members of his group blackmailing children into creating the most degrading, humiliating and despicable material”.
“His offending spanned from finding victims to actively promoting his depraved group to encourage new members to join,” Johns said.
"Com groups like this often promote a rhetoric of misogyny and violence against women and girls. Many offenders are not motivated by money or sexual gratification, but by the status and notoriety that comes with sharing shocking content.
“However, investigators discovered in this case that as well as seeking status as a core member of the group, Talbot also had a sexual interest in children.
"We worked closely with the Online CSA Covert Intelligence Team, Hampshire Police and the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure Talbot was held accountable for his actions and as a result, he now faces a long prison sentence."
Internet Watch Foundation CEO Kerry Smith said: “Every day, our team sees images and videos which children have been forced into making themselves – in scenes where they are made to engage in some of the most extreme forms of sexual abuse.
"Vile predators like Talbot expose children to the most terrifying abuse, all so they can make a profit off the back of the suffering inflicted on the most vulnerable.
"And for children and young people facing these sorts of threats online – there is help out there. Our free and confidential Report Remove service means nude or sexual imagery can be taken down if it gets out of control online, or pre-emptively blocked if a criminal is threatening to expose it. Children mustn't face this sort of blackmail and coercion alone. Help is out there."
Child sex abuse victims face ‘agonisingly long waits’ for justice
Victims of child sex abuse are facing “agonisingly long waits” to get justice with almost 7,000 cases stuck in the court system, according to a new study.
The NSPCC said the number of child sexual abuse and exploitation offence cases awaiting trial, being tried, or awaiting sentencing has risen by 9 per cent in a year.
The charity found there were 6,989 cases in the system across England and Wales in the year to March, up from 6,399 in the 12 months to March 2024.
Data shared with the NSPCC by the Ministry of Justice also showed that victims of such abuse were waiting an average of 10 months from the accused being charged to a case being completed.
The wait rose to around 18 months for cases of rape of a child aged between 13 and 15, the NSPCC said.
The charity said such lengthy waits can cause “significant anxiety and worry for children who have already experienced serious trauma” and delay them getting access to support, as it called on the Government to invest in therapeutic support for children.
Maria Neophytou, from the NSPCC, said: “No-one should have to face agonisingly long waits for their case to go to court and reach a resolution, but this is especially true for child victims of sexual abuse and exploitation.
“Not only do these waits cause significant anxiety and worry for children who have already experienced serious trauma, but they can also delay young victims from being able to access the support they need to start to recover from abuse.
“We want the Government to help ensure more young witnesses’ cases are going through the courts by using their upcoming response to the Leveson Inquiry to set out urgent action to tackle the remaining backlog and reduce delays for child victims.
“Too many children still can’t access the support they need to rebuild their lives following sexual abuse, so we are also urging Government to invest in therapeutic support for children and place a duty on local agencies to commission specialist support on local agencies through the Victims and Courts Bill.
The Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse (CSA Centre) described the rise in such cases getting to court as “encouraging”, but said “system-wide change is desperately required to ensure that victims and survivors get the timely outcome and ongoing support they need”.
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Ian Dean, director of the centre, said: “The year-on-year increase in open child sexual abuses cases is a worrying trend, echoing previous reports and reviews which have consistently highlighted these growing delays over recent years.
“Our own analysis found there is a wait time of almost two years between child sexual abuse being recorded by the police and the case concluding in court, which becomes significantly longer in relation to rape offences.
“Moreover, we found support services available to those affected by child sexual abuse are at breaking point, with thousands of children and adults still left waiting months or even years to access support.
“For the one-in-10 we estimate will suffer abuse before the age of 16, such delays can exacerbate the suffering and long-term impacts of that abuse.”
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