Creepy conmen are jailed for setting up fake modelling agency to trick women into sending them intimate pictures
- Oliver Pendleton and Jason Maguire traded under bogus agency Shining Star
- They both collected a series of sensitive photos from women over six years
- They got hackers to take snaps of their targets from private Facebook accounts
Two creepy conmen have been jailed for setting up a fake modelling agency to a trick a woman into sending them intimate pictures.
Oliver Pendleton, 28, and Jason Maguire, 26, went under the false name Gemma Wright and traded under bogus agency Shining Star.
Pendleton and Maguire set up the fake business and managed to collect a series of sensitive photos from women for six years.
Oliver Pendleton, 28, and Jason Maguire, 26, went under the false name Gemma Wright and traded under the bogus agency Shining Star
Both of them encouraged their victims to send pictures directly and also enlisted hackers to take photos from the private Facebook accounts of their targets.
Prosecutor Rosemary Proctor said a victim was persuaded to send a selection of face-only photos and was then paid a small sum of money.
But ‘Gemma Wright’ went on to tell the victim she could earn ‘more substantial’ cash for sex images and videos.
One woman was promised money in exchange for more than 60 photos but she was never paid.
Ms Proctor told Mold Crown Court the pair set up a genuine-looking website with ‘sophisticated methods’ to carry out their con.
Maguire was given a sexual harm prevention order in November 2016 after creating indecent images of children.
Police checked his phone where he had made searches for pornography and had been accessing content through the website Onlyfans.
The search went on to find he had been using Facebook under the ‘Gemma Wright’ persona and created tow email addresses linked to fake business.
The search also found he had visited a website known to host a ‘hacking community’ where he had contacted two members of the site over Skype with a list of names and requests to ‘hack’ them for private photos.
Pendleton admitted fraud as well as having a computer with intent to secure authorised access.
Maguire faced the same charges alongside 11 breaches of his sexual harm prevention order and six charges of creating indecent images.
Judge Niclas Parry said that the crimes were a ‘sophisticated conspiracy’ and sentenced Maguire for two years and four months and Pendleton for two years.
He also imposed lifelong restraining orders that banned them from ever contacting their victims in the future.
He said: ‘These are not frauds about money, these are frauds about people and the humiliation of females. You humiliated these women and caused extreme distress.
‘Not only did you trick these women, you sourced them yourselves by unlawfully securing access to their social media where you knew there would be sexual images.
‘These offences were planned and there were numerous victims. Their worlds have come crashing down and they had their mental health affected.’
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