Copyright mirror
A paedophile who posed as a schoolboy while "manipulating, abusing and blackmailing" girls as young as 10 through online gaming and social media sites cried and apologised to his sobbing mum as he was jailed. Lucifer Hunter catfished his victims into believing he was a 16-year-old Year 11 pupil before bombarding them via Xbox, TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram with highly sexualised chats and requests for explicit photos. The 24-year-old often referred to himself as "Daddy" in the deviant conversations and even recorded himself masturbating while on Facetime to one girl. If they blocked him or refused his demands - often to perform sex acts on themselves or send him photos dressed in school uniform or just tights - he would pester them via other online accounts or become verbally aggressive and offensive. One girl was sinisterly warned by Hunter that he knew someone who would rape her, while another was told she would be the one to go to prison. Another spoke of receiving death threats from him and was so scared that when police tracked her down after his arrest she "screeched" at the mention of his name, began to shake and described him as "a predator". Hunter, of The Stade, Folkestone, also threatened to reveal details of what the girls had engaged in to their families and to post the photos he had solicited on the internet. Although he gave 'No comment' interviews following his arrest in December 2023, he later pleaded guilty to a total of 14 offences relating to online child sexual activity, sexual communication, sending indecent or offensive communications, threatening to disclose private, sexual photos with intent to cause distress and possessing indecent images. At his sentencing hearing on Friday, Canterbury Crown Court was told by prosecutor Craig Evans how Hunter preyed on four girls aged 10 to 15 over a four-year period, when he was aged between 18 and 22. But it was only after his depraved behaviour with one teenage girl was reported to police and his two iPhones were downloaded that the indecent images were found along with predatory chats with other victims and screenshots of their social media accounts. Mr Evans said Hunter had not only lied about his age but also duped one into thinking they were having an online relationship. Although communications initially appeared innocent, he soon began to ask for photos before escalating his behaviour into more serious offending. Explaining how Hunter's attitude and approach would change, Mr Evans said: "When the defendant is getting what he wants, he presents a kind, friendly persona. As soon as matters turn for whatever reason - whether he perceives they are talking to others or he has not received sexual photos or the sexual gratification he wants - he turns aggressive and threatening." One particularly vulnerable girl referred to Hunter as her "online boyfriend" but matters came to a head when she told him it was over, the court heard. "He was nasty and aggressive and told her she couldn't see other boys and belonged to him," continued Mr Evans. "He said he would tell all about 'the bad things she had been doing' and that she would go to prison because of what she had done. He said he would put it on the internet." Extremely upset by his threats, the girl confided in a relative that she had been sending naked photos to Hunter, and that he had told her to always delete them from her phone. Mr Evans also told the court that it was "clear from the thrust of the conversations that he had a fetish for young girls in tights" and often requested such photos. Another victim, tracked down by police to her home in the north of the country, was said to have made "a loud screeching noise" when told the reason for their visit before remarking: "He's a weirdo, isn't he?" "The officer said it was clear she was scared of Lucifer; she was repeatedly shaking her leg up and down and she said she had been through counselling and therapy because of this," added the prosecutor. "She didn't send him any photos but she recognised him as 'a predator', as she put it." The teenager also revealed that having tracked her movements on Snapchat, Hunter turned up unexpectedly at an event she was attending and she was left feeling "unsafe, scared and depressed" by his conduct. He also sent her abusive messages in which he called her a multitude of derogatory and vile names, claimed she had "destroyed" his life, and warned she would face "consequences" if she ignored him. She later told police: "He said he was going to find us, kill me, find my family. I was blocking him on and off because I was scared he would do something." His third victim began talking with him on Snapchat after he had commented “You're so pretty” on her TikTok account. Having initially thought the name Lucifer belonged to a girl, she then realised his true sex but thought he was a "really sweet" boy. She began to send him "innocent" photos, the court heard, before Hunter remarked she looked "really nice in tights" and turned more sinister in his demands. "He would urge her to send pictures or he would 'get someone to follow and rape' her," said Mr Evans. "She said she was in a cycle of fear that if she didn't [send photos] he would tell her family. If she didn't send one, he would tell her she owed him another five because she hadn't complied with his earlier request." The court heard Hunter, who has no previous convictions and lives with his mum, was aged 20 when he targeted his youngest victim in a similar vein. On arrest, police also found a five-pack of knickers for girls aged two to three, with one pair missing, among Hunter's belongings. The indecent photos stored on both phones totalled 448, were categorised as being in all three levels of seriousness, and included both stills and moving images. Statements referred to during the hearing spoke of the significant and long-term impact Hunter had had on the youngsters' lives. One who accused him of "stealing her girlhood" described being made to feel as if her life was not worth living, while the mum of another girl spoke of how she saw her daughter "slowly lose who she was". Max Reeves, defending, had urged the judge to find "exceptional circumstances" which would enable a suspended sentence to be imposed and provide the "wealth of help and assistance" Hunter needed to address his offending. He said the defendant had his own complex mental health difficulties, described by a psychiatrist to include "features of ADHD, autism and a mixed depressive anxiety disorder", and a sense of social isolation which "distanced him from reality". Mr Reeves also told the court that his client understood the gravity of his conduct, was "desperate to change" and had demonstrated "very genuine" remorse. However, Judge Simon Taylor KC commented that while the offences were "exceptionally grave" - and that Hunter could have been charged with more serious offences including blackmail - it was not an exceptional case as argued. Furthermore, he said it was accepted Hunter's own vulnerabilities went some way towards reducing his culpability but it was also of note that he had "enough insight" to tell the victims to destroy evidence of his "cruel and abusive" conduct. Jailing him for five years, Judge Taylor told the sex offender he had "lied, connived, degraded, threatened and blackmailed" his four child victims, and only stopped because he was caught. "Your offending wasn't spontaneous, it wasn't a one-off. It was determined, persistent and sophisticated offending," he remarked. "It was a determined course of conduct while you pretended to be a child. It was not short-lived and you took steps to tell your victims to delete messages. You knew full well it was wrong. "What was at its core was planned, manipulative, harmful behaviour. You knew your conduct had the potential to cause great harm but you just didn't care." Judge Taylor also explained that in what was a "very delicate" sentencing exercise he was required to balance such "appalling and extensive" behaviour with mitigation put forward on Hunter's behalf, including the findings of a psychiatric report. At the end of the hearing, the convicted paedophile appeared confused as he asked what sentence he had been given. On being told it was five years and with his mum in tears in the public gallery, Hunter then turned towards her, began to cry and said "I'm sorry, Mum, I'm sorry" before being led to the cells. He was also told he will have to serve two-thirds of his sentence before he can be released, and will be subject to a 15-year sexual harm prevention order and indefinite sex offender notification requirements.
