A SEX fiend who used Skype to pose as a 15-year-old schoolboy and force a young girl to degrade herself has been jailed for six-and-a-half years.

Craig Leah, 44, threatened to reveal intimate photos of the 13-year-old which she had sent him, mistakenly believing he was around her own age, Burnley Crown Court was told.

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Leah also posed as a teacher in his 20s and told a 14-year-old girl that he had naked videos of her, before forcing her to strip for him, the court heard.

One of her friends was also there and had to watch the sexual activity, the court heard.

Jailing him, Judge Jonathan Gibson said: “The case demonstrates that while the internet is of course a very important and essential tool of life in the 21st century, it is also a very dangerous place for children, as the activities of the defendant, over the relevant period, and no doubt a number of other people, shows.”

Prosecutor Richard Bennett said that Leah, who used the Skype handle ‘CraigL288’, tried to entice a 10-year-old girl to behave in a similar way. But when spoken to by police, though she recalled the user ‘saying rude things’ to her, she said she didn’t respond.

The case involving the 13-year-old girl had been highlighted to Lancashire Police by their colleagues in Northants. Investigators also found child porn on his computer and examples of extreme pornography involving bestiality.

Leah, formerly of Helmshore, but now of Roman Road, Blackburn, admitted three offences of causing or inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity, two charges of causing a child to watch sexual activity and four allegations of making indecent images.

He was given a life-long sexual offences prevention order, barring him from unsupervised contact with females aged under 16 and from using electronic devices whose internet histories cannot be checked by police.

Richard Taylor, defending, said his client had sought counselling and professional help after his arrest and had shown remorse and genuine empathy with his young victims.

Judge Gibson said: “It is plain that you have devastated the victims in this case and their families.” from what I have read from their interviews in this case, and the statement of one of the mothers in particular, and you have also devastated your own family’s life.”