A young schoolgirl joined gamers’ social media platform Discord in the hope of finding friends – but instead she began acquiring sick footage of abuse, amassing a library of more than 200 photos
The girl started downloading vile child abuse videos when she was just 12 years old(Image: Getty Images)
A schoolgirl who was just 12 years old when she started downloading vile pornographic videos has been convicted of child sex offences.
The youngster joined gamers’ social media platform Discord in the hope of finding friends – but instead she began acquiring sick footage. She subsequently amassed a library of more than 200 illegal photographs of youngsters over a two-year period, and distributed one image of a child being sexually abused on Snapchat.
The girl, who lives in Congleton, Cheshire, was detained after police got a tip-off about the images and traced her through her internet provider (IP) address. Officers raided her family home she shares with her parents, seized her mobile phone and other devices and found 57 images in most serious category A, 54 in category B and 120 in category C. She was also found to have distributed a category A image when she was 13.
Crewe youth court heard one of the videos featured an individual having sex with a chicken while another showed children self harming. The cases comes amid calls for an Australia-style ban on children’s use of social media. The government has begin a consultation on access for under-16s.
The girl, now 15, broke down in tears and sobbed uncontrollably as she admitted eight charges, namely one of possession of extreme pornography, three of possession of indecent images, three of making indecent images and one of distribution of an indecent image.
She was told to complete a one-year referral order and pay costs and a surcharge of £111.
The girl, who cannot be named, previously appeared in court accompanied by her parents and was dressed in a black top and trousers. Her mother sat next to her in court and her dad sat at the back in the public gallery.
When asked to give her date of birth and address, the girl burst into tears then wept continuously through the rest of the hearing. She formally entered guilty pleas to three of the charges but was so upset, her lawyer was asked to confirm if she admitted the remaining five offences.
Prosecutor Alex Farrow told the hearing: “This matter goes back some time. Police received information between March 12 and 13 of 2025 that the defendant was part of a Discord chat which contained images firstly about self harm and secondly indecent images of children.
“IP addresses were used to locate the Discord sources, one of which came back to the defendant.
“Police executed a warrant at her address and a number of digital devices were seized. A number of indecent images were located including category A images and videos.
“The mobile phone also shows on two occasions she sent an image into a Snapchat group chat. There were in total 57 category A images and moving images, 54 category B and 120 category C as well as two images which portrayed extreme pornography, in this case bestiality.
“This is a lady of good character, with no previous convictions on her record and no cautions on her record either.’”
Jim Edwards, defending, said: “Her interview took place in July of last year and she gave a full explanation. She has been online wanting to make friends and was snared into a group.
“She does not know any of those other people. She has never met them. There is no evidence of that and there is no evidence to confirm that.
“Since last year she has been working with youth justice. She has had a lot of work done. There is a formal diagnosis of autism in February of this year.”
Mr Edwards said she was also due an appointment next month with regard to a diagnosis of ADHD. He said: “She is with her parents. Her parents have enforced rules regarding any devices. She has no computer. She has a phone. She is not allowed to chat online. Her parents check on the phone every couple of days. Other devices are locked.
“She gets help to go to lessons. We are looking at a fresh start. She is highly distressed and is hoping to be able to use this as a fresh start going forward and working with the youth offending service. She deeply regrets her actions and is very, very sorry.”
At the end of the hearing, the tearful girl pushed her mother away when she tried to console her. Her father was then invited to help her and the court was cleared to give mother and father time to talk to her.
In sentencing, JP Christina Basnett said that she would ordinarily speak to the child but due to how upset she was she spoke only to the mother. “We have heard everything being said. The matter is in hand and being dealt with.”
