A man has been sentenced to three years in prison for using a fake online persona to convince boys to send him indecent images.

Between July and August 2021, Surrey Police received multiple referrals from the National Crime Agency (NCA) concerning a suspect who had used a fake persona online to groom boys between the ages of 11 to 17. The investigation led detectives to Ryan Stone, then aged 18, of Godalming.

Posing as a young woman named Isabella, Stone incited victims from across the UK to perform sexual acts and send them to him.

He would then record and store them electronically. His victims were identified because Stone had made screen recordings that captured their Instagram usernames.

Stone, now 21, was charged with 15 offences including inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and making indecent images of children.

On January 3, he was sentenced to 36 months in prison at Guildford Crown Court.

Detective Constable Connor Leney, from Surrey Police’s Paedophile Online Investigation Team, said: “Stone purposely groomed children online for his own sexual gain without any consideration of the lasting impact it may have on them.

“It is cases like this which show why it is so important to be aware of fake profiles and to have conversations with children about who they might be talking to online.

Det Cons Leney said warning signs include fake profiles, such as having no profile image, requests for sexual images, asking for video calls without showing their own face, or if your child becomes secretive with their phone.

He urged anyone who suspects grooming is taking place to report it immediately to police and to the social media platform.

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