Source: National Crime Agency (NCA) published on this website Monday 17 March 2025 by Jill Powell
A man from Northamptonshire who blackmailed a child into sending him further indecent images by threatening to send them to her family and friends has been sentenced.
Kevin Newson, 43, from Daventry, was arrested by officers from the National Crime Agency after authorities in America were approached by a 16-year-old child. She said Newson had contacted her via online messaging platforms and asked her to send indecent images in late 2019 and early 2020.
Newson told her he would send money for the images, sending a screenshot of his UK bank account. The victim sent images of herself to him but declined to send more when Newson requested them.
He then threatened to send the images he already had to her family members, friends and school if she did not send further images.
Newson was arrested by the NCA in June 2022 and when officers reviewed his phone, they discovered one Category B indecent video and 14 extreme images.
Chat logs between the victim and Newson were downloaded from the victim's device, which also showed his online profile containing an image of himself.
Newson answered no comment to all questions put to him at interview.
He was charged and appeared at Northampton Crown Court on 10 February, pleading guilty to blackmail and causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a child. Charges of making an indecent image of a child and possessing extreme pornographic images will lie on file.
He was sentenced to two years and four months imprisonment at the same court today. He will also be subject to a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) and will be on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.
Phil Eccles, Senior Investigating Officer from the NCA said:
"Kevin Newson groomed his victim into believing they were friends. But when she sent indecent images as Newson requested, he blackmailed her into sending more by threatening to send them to her family, friends and school.
"Newson thought the distance between him and his victim would mean his abuse would be able to continue without detection, but with thanks to our US partners and the tenacity of our investigators, his crimes have been uncovered.
"The NCA will continue in our fight to bring criminals like Newson to justice and pursue offenders like him who are involved in the abuse of children."
Advice for victims under 18:
- Increase privacy settings to restrict who can make contact with you or your online contacts.
- Don't pay, stop contact and block: you may be tempted to pay, but there is no guarantee that this will stop the threats. As the offender's motive is to get money, once you have shown you can pay, they will likely ask for more and the blackmail may continue. If you have paid, don't panic, but don't pay anything more. Stop all communication with the offender and block them on any accounts you have been contacted on.
- You are not to blame: A lot of victims feel responsible but this is absolutely not the case; you are not to blame and help and support is available.
- Avoid deleting anything: try not to delete anything that could be used as evidence such as messages, images and bank account details.
Advice for parents and carers:
- Talk to your child about FMSE: this will help to remove the stigma associated to this type of criminality. To support you, visit the CEOP Education website where there are a number of helpful resources.
- Report to the police: call 101 or 999 if there is an immediate risk of harm to your child.
- Report any images or videos that have been shared: if your child's image or video has been shared without their consent and they are under 18, help them to take the following 3 steps:
- Report Remove: a tool from Childline and the Internet Watch Foundation. Your child can use this to remove images that have been shared or might be shared.
- Take It Down: a tool from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Your child can use this to remove or stop the online sharing of images or videos.
- Report it to the platform or app that the incident has occurred on. For advice on how to report to major social media platforms, visit Internet Matters.
