Jordan Croft admitted 65 offenses involving 26 victims who were forced to send photographs and videos of themselves performing acts of a sexual or degrading nature. The 26-year-old from Worthing, West Sussex, posed as a teenager online as he sought out young girls to “dominate and control” them, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said. One victim said she hoped Croft would “burn in hell” as he was sentenced at Lewes Crown Court on Friday. Investigators found the pedophile was in contact with more than 5,000 people on one platform alone. After getting victims to send him a nude photo, Croft used it against them to make demands for increasingly lewd and graphic content. He set a list of rules they had to follow and moved their conversations to the encrypted Telegram platform. Many of the girls and young women he abused, aged between 12 and 22, were forced to film themselves saying they were entering Croft’s ‘sexual slavery contract’. He forced victims to sexually abuse themselves and other children on demand, as well as film themselves urinating and defecating, the NCA said. Victims had to ask permission to go to the bathroom and say when they were going to be busy so Croft knew they weren’t being ignored. If the girls did not comply, Croft would lay down punishments and threaten to expose them to their family or social media followers. Image: A message found on Croft’s phone. Photo: NCA ‘Burn in Hell’ In a series of powerful victim impact statements, Croft was described as a “cruel, perverted, pathetic pedophile” who had caused “emotional torment” and “physical and psychological harm” to the girls he abused. “Your horrific actions have ruined the lives of hundreds, if not thousands, of young girls who will never forget or allow themselves to forget what you did to them,” said one victim. Another wrote: “I was terrified of you and thought there was no way out. You trapped me. You scared me. I couldn’t believe someone could be so violent and ugly.” One victim’s statement read: “I want you to suffer as much as I have suffered emotionally and physically. You make me sick. You make me so angry. “You’ve made me suffer enough and now it’s your turn. I hope you burn in hell.” Another wrote: “From now on people will know you as nothing more than a cruel, twisted, pathetic pedophile.” “I want you to know that I hate what you did to me and I hope you rot in hell,” one victim wrote. Image: A surveillance photo of Jordan Croft. Photo: NCA Catfish Croft was arrested in September 2019 after being identified as being behind a number of usernames linked to online abuse reported to several police forces, with his offending dating back to April 2018. Croft’s devices were seized, including a USB stick and two mobile phones on which he had saved the abuse material and tagged it with the victims’ names, ages and a list of their social media followers. The researchers linked him to 20 online profiles on four different messaging platforms. Chat logs showed that Croft initially pretended to be a teenager to befriend his victims. Once he was satisfied that the girls were going to follow his rules, Croft revealed his true age and admitted that he was a “catfish” and “playing to girls 12-14”. He told his victims he had a degree in cyber security and had hidden his online identity so he could not be traced by law enforcement. Image: A message found on Croft’s phone. Photo: NCA The bravery of the victims is praised Croft pleaded guilty to 65 charges at Lewes Crown Court in August, including causing or inducing a child to engage in sexual activity. blackmail; making unreasonable demands for indecent images. intentionally causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a child; and making more than 900 indecent images of children. The Crown Prosecution Service said Croft was sentenced on Friday to 18 years in prison with an extended non-life period of eight years. Martin Ludlow, senior investigating officer at the NCA, called Croft “a multi-generational offender who has caused grief to many victims and their families”. “The sexual depravity he consistently displayed during this abuse of both young females and adults is appalling,” he said. “Like many offenders, Croft thrived on the power he could exert over his victims. He sought a sense of control and gained it through deceit and abuse. “He showed no compassion for the victims, pushing them to breaking point and making threats even when they begged him to stop. “I pity these young women who showed so much bravery in speaking out against him.”
