January 2015 Facebook pervert who targeted 4 young girls jailed A loner who groomed girls through Facebook and sexually assaulted one of them has been jailed for three years and nine months. Blaine Dalton, from Bestwood Park, was told by a judge he he had “exploited the phenomenon” of the internet after he targeted four girls aged between 11 and 14 years. He chatted to them and got them to send over naked photos, Nottingham Crown Court heard on January 29. Dalton, 22, pleaded guilty to six charges –two of causing or inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity and causing or inciting her to be involved in pornography by sending him nude photographs of herself. Two more children, one aged 13 to 14 years and two aged 11 to 12 years, to sent him nude photos and a fourth was incited to engage in sexual activity in 2012. Judge Michael Pert QC ordered Dalton sign the sex offender’s register for life. “Others have to learn that if you do these sorts of things, you have done, the courts will protect young girls, and this court will provide that protection and will punish men who exploit them.” One of the victims, who was sexually assaulted, was 13 years old when she began speaking to Dalton on Facebook messenger. “He lied and wormed his way into my life, probably in the same way he did with lots of other girls,” said. “Looking back I was a shy, awkward 13-year-old, and he seemed to know all the right things to make me feel special. Blaine abused my trust then abused me physically. I relive what he did to me every day. Her mother has had many sleepless nights “going over what happened and how frightened she must have been”. “Our family life has been turned upside down by this man,” she said. “We thought we had taken enough steps to protect her, and had warned her about the dangers of predators on the internet, but we were naïve to how devious these people are.” The girl is especially angry that Dalton didn’t admit his guilt until a court hearing in November 2014. She said: “He had a normal life for two years as an ‘innocent’ man throughout the police investigation and court proceedings. But in the weeks and months after the attack, I fell apart emotionally. I lost my confidence to go outside, my access to the internet and my reputation to some extent. “I was bullied at school, with people shouting abuse and calling me a liar. Most of my friends turned their backs on me; not believing that I was telling the truth. Losing them was especially hard and I wasn’t sure whether I could go on with my life. I lost a lot of weight from the anxiety and stress. Her grades also suffered in the wake of what happened with Dalton. “I’ve had a massively difficult time, but with the help of my family and counselling I feel stronger now,” she explains. She is determined to rebuild her life and become a police officer one day to “protect people from criminals like Blaine”. “Her life was on hold for two years, but she has stayed strong and is starting to come out the other side and move on,” said her mum. “Part of that is down to the support we’ve had from police and specialist counsellors during the investigation who have gone above and beyond to help her and Dalton’s other victims.” The girl, who cannot be identified, hopes her story will encourage other young people to be careful online. “Don’t accept friend requests from anyone you don’t know; people aren’t always who they say they are,” she warns. “Abusers want you to stay silent through shame and fear so they can carry on, but you should tell an adult that you trust if you are being pressured to do or say things you don’t want to.” Blaine Dalton manipulated his victims, “taking advantage of the anonymity of the internet” explains DC Taylor. “Many girls he was grooming deleted him as a contact when he started making suggestive comments, but didn’t report what he had done. This gave Dalton the opportunity to move on to abuse others. It also lost potential evidence against him, as deleting a contact on Facebook removes all traces of past messages from them. “If young people are concerned about inappropriate messages, being asked to do something that makes them uncomfortable, screen-grab the conversation and report that person to a trusted adult. “The Child Exploitation Online Protection agency also has its own Facebook page, Click CEOP, which gives ways to notify the authorities and lots of online safety information. I would urge parents and young people who use Facebook to ‘like’ the page and bookmark the web address.”