A mother has revealed how she created a fake Snapchat account to help put a paedophile behind bars after he started messaging her daughter.
Sky News has used pseudonyms in order to protect identities
Sarah’s eight-year-old daughter Nicki was playing the online game MovieStarPlanet when she began receiving messages from someone claiming to be a 17-year-old boy.
Speaking to Sky News presenter Sarah-Jane Mee on The UK Tonight, Nicki said: “It was just someone starting off a normal conversation saying ‘hi, how are you?’. And then it just started getting weirder… he was saying that I looked really sexy sometimes. And as I was an eight-year-old, I didn’t really recognise that word… so then I went straight to my mum because it didn’t look normal to me.”
The person messaging her, who it later turned out was a man in his 30s, had also repeatedly asked Nicky to speak to him on the social media app Snapchat – despite the fact her profile on MovieStarPlanet clearly said she was eight.
Remembering the moment her daughter showed her the messages, Nicki’s mother Sarah said: “I won’t lie, initially I genuinely did think it was just a 17-year-old boy, you know, just sort of pushing his luck, if you will.
“We deleted the account [on the game]. We made her a brand new account… and then 12 hours later, ping! He found her again.”
Sarah then decided to create a Snapchat account in her daughter’s name before adding the person who had approached her on the game.
She decided not to include any photos of her daughter on the account.
However, Sarah continued: “He understood who it was straight away and the conversation continued… so then, if you will, I became Nicki for about five days.”
Sarah says a “major red flag” occurred when the person started sending videos and pictures.
“I was well aware that that was no 16 to 17-year-old boy. This was prior to us seeing a full facial image. Luckily enough, he sent that as well, which made it a lot easier to identify this as a fully-grown man.”
Sarah continued: “Knowing what he wanted from her, what he wanted to do to her. He was very explicit in telling me what he wanted her to do… it encouraged me to continue knowing that I can’t let him do this to her or any other child, that I have to ensure that I stop him.”
The paedophile, who Sky News has chosen not to name, ended up serving eight months in prison after he was convicted in August 2023 – three years after he sent the messages.
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
Nicki said she started crying when she was told the predator had been jailed.
She added: “It was kind of relief and obviously joy… it was just amazing.”
Nicki said she often overhears pupils at her school talking about how they are chatting to people online who they don’t really know.
She said: “You just kind of think, well, is that not a bit of a stupid idea? Because obviously you’ve never met him… If a friend came up to me, then I’d actually have the conversation with them. You know, [tell them] that could be someone completely different to who they say they are.”
Read more from Sky News:
Five ‘dangerous’ gang members guilty of murdering boy
The wild life of Ozzy Osbourne
What have Snapchat and MovieStarPlanet said?
A spokesperson for Snapchat said: “Any sexual exploitation of young people is abhorrent and illegal. We designed Snapchat with extra protections for teens – including private friend lists, pop-up warnings if they start to chat with someone we think they don’t know and easy reporting tools so teens can get help quickly.
“You must be at least 13 to use Snapchat and we also have Family Centre for parents, which allows them to see who their teen is talking with and when they last chatted.”
Follow our channel and never miss an update
A spokesperson for MovieStarPlanet said: “First, and foremost, our thoughts go out to the family involved in these incidents and we wish them well in their recovery process.
“As a registered social worker, professionally working to safeguard children, my main focus is to make sure there are comprehensive safeguarding systems in place to protect children and adolescents who engage with the online games that we produce.
“This is also the main focus of everyone at MovieStarPlanet where we work with a safety by design philosophy when creating and producing our online games. MovieStarPlanet is committed to providing a safe and enjoyable online experience for everyone that engages with the online games that we produce.
“We have implemented a comprehensive set of child safeguarding measures designed to protect our users from potential risks and promote civility through positive interactions. We continually assess and upgrade these systems when it is deemed necessary.”
