A 17-year-old forced girls to self-harm and perform sex acts in a campaign against more than 100 victims, the National Crime Agency has said.

Justin Swaddle, now 20, was operating in a Com group, which are loose online communities that share extreme graphic material and manipulate victims to allow them to commit both sexual and violent child abuse.

Members are mainly teenage boys driven by a desire for status, rather than sexual desire or money. Notoriety is achieved by sharing more extreme content and committing increasingly serious crimes.

Swaddle’s devices were found to contain images of victims with self-harm injuries, including of his aliases carved into their skin, the NCA said.

He was 17 years old when he groomed girls across the world on Discord, Telegram and Snapchat, operating under the usernames ‘Epstein’, ‘Rugen’ and ‘Moscow’, it added.

‘Justin Swaddle targeted young and vulnerable victims all over the world to abuse and scare them into carrying out shocking self-harm and sexual activity, purely to gain popularity with his peers online,’ Danielle Pownall, Operations Manager at the NCA said.

Swaddle, of Meanwood, Leeds, was jailed for two years on Monday after an investigation revealed he had communicated with 117 female victims aged 13 to 17, eight of whom were in the UK.

He gained the trust of his victims before collecting private information about them to threaten them.

One victim, aged 17, said she met him on social media platform Discord in November 2022 and they then moved to Snapchat.

On Snapchat, the conversation became sexual and escalated into discussions of self-harm.

Swaddle requested nude images of her, and that she carve his username in her body, the NCA said.

He obtained her name, address and school details. She also learned he had recorded calls where sexual activity had taken place and shared them with a group.

Swaddle threatened to use her personal details if she did not provide further images and videos.

Other Telegram messages showed he had attempted to incite a child to sexually abuse a young child and record it for him, according to the NCA.

His devices contained indecent images of children in categories A to C, with A being the most severe. Detectives estimated the images on his devices showed children aged between three and 17, with several indicating he had directed or encouraged the acts.

Swaddle was first arrested by West Yorkshire Police in October 2023 for offences including the possession, making and distribution of indecent images.

The NCA started its investigation in January 2024 and uncovered hundreds of conversations, all sexual and involving young females.

Investigators worked with law enforcement partners in the USA, Canada, Australia, Norway and New Zealand to speak to and safeguard victims.

According to the NCA, Swaddle admitted two counts of inciting a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity without penetration; inciting a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity with penetration; and blackmail.

He also pleaded guilty to making an indecent photograph of a child in categories A, B and C, as well as possessing an extreme pornographic image and possessing a prohibited image of a child.