Derbyshire Times news bulletin with editor Phil Bramley
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00:00Here's today's Derbyshire Times video bulletin.
00:03Police body cam footage has captured the moment a Derbyshire man who used TikTok to prey on
00:07young girls was arrested after the victim's mum alerted police.
00:12Stephen Blackwell, aged 46 from Matlock, posed as a 17-year-old boy on the social networking
00:17site to target girls as young as 10.
00:20He claimed that he lived in London and bombarded one victim with photos and videos and asked
00:24her to send him images in return.
00:27Blackwell was caught when the girl's mum found the messages on her phone and contacted
00:31police.
00:32He was released on bail but carried on targeting young girls on TikTok by messaging accounts
00:37that he believed to be for those aged 14.
00:40However, these accounts were all decoy accounts run by an online child activism group who
00:45recorded his messages as evidence.
00:47Blackwell sent numerous videos showing him performing sex acts on himself and also asked
00:52the girls to carry out acts on themselves.
00:55He was charged with five offences, including engaging in sexual communication with a child
00:59and causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.
01:03He denied the offences but was found guilty after a trial at Derby Crown Court.
01:08He was jailed for 11 years and 3 months and handed an extended sentence on August 16th.
01:13Blackwell, who was also given a sexual harm prevention order, was placed on the sex offenders
01:18register.
01:21The sexual predator who used TikTok to send explicit content to girls as young as 10 has
01:25been jailed for more than 11 years.
01:28Stephen Blackwell began messaging a 10-year-old girl using the app and bombarded her with
01:32sexually graphic photos and videos and asking for the same in return.
01:36He was caught when the girl's mum found the messages on her phone and contacted police.
01:41Blackwell was arrested and later bailed while investigations continued.
01:45While on bail, he also began messaging accounts he believed belonged to 14-year-old girls.
01:49Again, he sent numerous videos showing him performing sex acts on himself and asked the
01:53girls to do the same.
01:55However, these accounts were not real.
01:57They were in fact decoys run by an online child protection activist group.
02:02The phone number was traced to Blackwell and he was arrested and subsequently charged with
02:05offences including engaging in sexual communication with a child, causing a child under 13 to
02:10engage in sexual activity and causing a child under 13 to look at images of sexual activity.
02:16So we've had important information received, okay, that there's an online account linked
02:20to yourself that's been chatting with 14-year-old girls, okay?
02:24So at this moment in time, it is 10 to 7, so I'm arresting you on suspicion of attempting
02:31to engage in sexual communications with a child, okay?
02:34The 46-year-old of Matlock denied the offences but was found guilty by a jury at Derby Crown
02:39Court and has now been jailed for 11 years.
02:41He was also given a sexual harm prevention order and placed on the sex offenders register
02:45for life.
02:49Derbyshire residents will see an unusual sight in the skies over the county this weekend.
02:54The world's tallest screwdriver will be seen floating through the air as the Werritools
02:58Hot Air Balloon takes flight from Chatsworth Country Fair.
03:01Measuring 65 metres, the balloon is one of the largest in the world.
03:05It will fly over Chatsworth at 6am and 6pm on Friday and Saturday depending on the weather.
03:11Werritools UK is based in Claycross and employs over 30 people in the local area.