Penwortham man used online chat website Omegle to encourage underage girls to perform sexual acts

Stefan Bull, 27, of Gaskell Road, Penwortham, was sentenced at Preston Crown Court on September 23 for a number of offences committed using online chat website Omegle.

In October 2019, West Yorkshire Police received two videos which showed a man engaging in "lewd behaviour" on the website.

Officers conducted enquiries alongside Omegle and traced the internet address to Bull’s previous home in Preston.

A warrant was executed in January 2020 with Bull's devices examined by police.

More than 200 videos were reportedly found on Bull's laptop, with the footage time-stamped between December 2011 and December 2012.

In the majority of the videos, police said Bull played a 'game' with his victims, encouraging them to perform sexual acts on camera.

The more explicit the act, the more 'points' he would award the victim.

Bull screen recorded the chats, with all the victims believed to be under the age of 18.

Bull received summons to appear at court for offences including:

- 12 counts of causing/inciting a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity - penetration

- Three offences of making an indecent image.

- One count of possessing an indecent image of a child.

- Two offences of causing/inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity – no penetration.

- One offence of an offender aged over 18 causing/inciting a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity – no penetration.

The force said he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years and four months in prison.

He will also be on the sex offenders register indefinitely and was given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order restricting his use of the internet and contact with children upon his release.

Det Insp Chris Wellard, of Lancashire Police's Child Protection Unit, said: "Bull's actions were abhorrent, predatory and depraved.

"He encouraged his victims to commit a number of increasingly lewd acts, based on a 'points system', all for his own sickening sexual gratification.

"Bull admitted possession of the videos during his police interview, taking full responsibility. He claimed he was much younger and less mature, but this does not excuse the crimes he committed against innocent victims and we welcome his imprisonment.

"Protecting the public, especially children, from harm and abuse is an absolute priority for Lancashire Constabulary and with our partners we will continue to proactively target offenders who use the internet to view or exchange indecent images of children and help safeguard those children who have become, or are at risk of becoming, victims."

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