Ebbw Vale paedophile ‘bullied’ girls into sex acts he filmed

Joel Gillard, 30, from Ebbw Vale used social media platforms like Instagram to abuse six schoolgirls across the UK including two from York.

The defendant “groomed” his victims when he was drinking heavily and taking cocaine while he was living in a van on the side of a mountain.

Gillard posed as a 15-year-old boy called Josh and would dare the girls to perform more and more explicit acts as if it were a game.

Joel Gillard

Some of them were blackmailed if they didn't do as they were told.

A judge told the “intelligent” cyber security consultant he’d had “no limits” as she jailed him for nearly 10 years.

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She said he had been sexually aroused by the power he’d wielded over the vulnerable underage schoolgirls.

When the police went to talk to the nine-year-old victim she was playing with toys and colouring in pictures.

Detectives had to bring their conversation with her to an abrupt halt after they began to speak about Gillard because she started “crying hysterically”.

Gareth James, prosecuting, told Cardiff Crown Court the parents of two girls in North Yorkshire made complaints to the police before Gillard was traced to Gwent.

He said: “Officers discovered screen recordings that showed that the defendant used social media accounts to engage with young girls.

“He was pretending to be a teenage boy and was having sexualised conversations with young girls.

“Those conversations involved the defendant coercing them to perform sexual acts upon themselves that included penetrative sexual activity.”

Mr James added: “Grooming behaviour was used against the victims.

“These offences involved a significant degree of planning and sexual images are recorded and retained and in each case there is a significant disparity in age.”

Gillard admitted six counts of causing or inciting an underage girl to engage in sexual activity and one each of causing a child to watch a sexual act and sexual communication with a child.

He also pleaded guilty to three charges of making an indecent image of a child.

Gillard had 313 category A images, the most serious kind, 88 category B images and 101 category C images.

The defendant also accepted possession of eight extreme pornographic images of bestiality.

He had no previous convictions.

Jeffrey Jones representing Gillard said: “The defendant feels disgusted with himself.

“He empathises with the victims and their families.”

Gillard is on the autism spectrum and “has problems making friends”.

Mr Jones added: “He has supportive parents who are here in court today.

“They scratch their heads. They are despondent.”

Judge Lucy Crowther told Gillard: “You had no limits.

“You recognised what you were doing was entirely wrong and you persisted.”

The defendant was handed an extended prison sentence of nine years and eight months.

Gillard will have to serve at least two-thirds of a custodial term of six years and eight months before being eligible for parole.

Once released he will be subject to a licence period of three years.

The defendant must register as a sex offender indefinitely and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for 25 years.