Vile Scots soldier ran sextortion scam and blackmailed 100 children into performing sexual acts
The youngest of Fleming’s many victims was aged just 10 and the oldest 17, the court heard.
A Scots soldier who ran a vile sextortion scam blackmailing dozens of young children into performing sexual acts has been sentenced to 27 years.
Depraved Austen Fleming, 29, posed as an 'attractive' female on social media to lure in almost 100 vulnerable victims while stationed at RAF Dishforth in North Yorkshire.
The predator would then covertly record his interactions with children from across the UK to use as leverage to extort further explicit material.
When the children refused, Fleming would threaten to post the footage online - or send them to family and friends - unless they carried out more sexual acts.
One boy, aged 15, was so badly traumatised by Fleming's sextortion threats on Snapchat that he attempted to take his own life. Others were left crying and shaking with fear by what he had put them through, Leeds Crown Court heard.
Fleming, who had served in the 6 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps, was jailed for 24 years and ordered to serve three years on an extended licence.
Judge Ray Singh told how social media had given Fleming "easy access" to victims and told him: "Despite your relatively young age your depravity knew no bounds.
"There are 61 individual identified victims. There are 27 who have not been able to be identified. So you were approaching nearly 100 victims. Each a real person, each a real child, each who was abused by you."
Terrified victims had "begged" Fleming not to leak their images online. But their pleas only made him make even more graphic and depraved demands.
He told one 15-year-old victim to send indecent videos, warning him: "Send bro or the vids going up." Fleming made children send explicit images taken next to sleeping siblings, and take sexual videos involving family pets.
One child was said to be so traumatised that he "vomited" when he told his mother what he had been forced to do.
Another teenager attempted to kill himself but was prevented from doing so by his school headmaster. "One cannot imagine a worse impact upon a young child," remarked Judge Singh.
The father of one boy told Leeds Crown Court how his "happy go lucky" son had been left traumatised by Fleming.
He said: He became angry and frustrated and I could not understand what was wrong with him. I tried to talk to him but he would just shut me out.
"When I heard what he had been made to do I felt sick. We talked about what had gone on and I could see a weight being lifted from his shoulders. It was clear that he blamed himself for what happened and felt deeply ashamed. Since that time, his mental health has seen as significant decline. The happy go lucky kid is no more.
"He just never seems happy anymore. I would love to read this out in court to let the defendant know just how much damage he has done to my son and my family."
Fleming, of Kilsyth, Lanarkshire, admitted 83 charges including blackmail, causing children to engage in sexual activity and sexually exploiting children between December 2020 and January 2023.
North Yorkshire Police were tipped off after a child protection centre in the United States received a referral from Instagram that he had engaged in inappropriate conversations with a boy aged 12.
Fleming was arrested in November 2022 at his base near Thirsk, North Yorkshire, and his accommodation searched for evidence.
When questioned, Fleming admitted blackmailing children and told officers that he was "struggling with his sexuality".
Robert Mochrie, defending, said: "The vast majority of this offending appears to have taken place while the defendant was seeking solace in alcohol alone, when his peers had returned home from the base where he was housed at the time. Ultimately only he knows why he behaved in the way he did. He has expressed remorse and he understands the significant harm he will have caused to all of the victims in this case."
Judge Singh, who spent more than an hour detailing the crimes committed against each individual child, many of whom were aged just 12 and 13.
He told how "sickening" Fleming would offer Playstation and Xbox codes while posing as a young female in a bid to extort sexual images.
Describing Fleming as a "dangerous offender", the judge said: "This is horrific offending involving young children. One can just imagine the effect that your offending had upon them.
"There were threats that were made on many occasions. You degraded and humiliated a number of your victims."
The youngest of Fleming’s many victims was aged just 10 and the oldest 17, the court heard.
They were from various parts of the UK, including Kent, London, Surrey, Sussex, Lincolnshire, Birmingham, Warwickshire, Nottingham, Cheshire, Lancashire, West Yorkshire, Humberside, Durham and North Yorkshire.
Fleming was made subject to an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and placed on the sex offender register for the rest of his life.
Detective Constable Tom Sutcliffe from the Online Child Abuse Team, who led the investigation, said: “This has been a large-scale investigation involving constabularies in Scotland, England and Wales. Their support has been crucial in obtaining accounts from the many victims of Fleming.
“It has also required collaborative safeguarding working involving social services across the UK to ensure the young people involved receive the support that they need.
“I have nothing but praise for the continued bravery of the victims.”
He added: “Fleming is clearly a depraved offender who poses a significant danger to young people especially. He now faces a long time in prison and will be robustly monitored by the authorities for the rest of his life.”