Reuben Fleet

Reuben Fleet, aged 20 and of no fixed abode, was sentenced at Preston Crown Court after pleading guilty to eight sexual offences involving children. The offences, which took place in the Lancaster area, involved secretly filming himself engaging in sexual activity with two teenage girls, both under the age of 18, on separate occasions.

Lancashire Police launched an investigation following reports that indecent images and videos of teenage girls were being shared online. Officers discovered that Fleet had recorded the encounters without the full knowledge or consent of the victims. In one instance, a victim realised she had been filmed when Fleet later showed the videos on his mobile phone to others, despite assuring her that the footage had been deleted.

The court heard that Fleet began offending in his late teens, with the most recent reports emerging when he was 20 years old. The offences related to three victims in total, including one count of sexual activity with a child and seven counts of making, taking, and sharing indecent images of children. A victim's personal statement highlighted the profound impact of the crimes, stating: 'I remember the first time we met, and he tried to kiss me outside, and then told me I made him feel like a paedophile. I was 16 and he was 20.' She further described the betrayal: 'I made it very clear that that had to be deleted and he had assured me it had been. Obviously, that wasn’t true. To this day I find it very difficult to trust people.'

Fleet was jailed for five years and ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life. A spokesman for Lancashire Police described him as 'a despicable, perverted individual', noting that he filmed his victims for his own sordid interests, either without their knowledge or by deceiving them about deleting the footage. The victims demonstrated remarkable strength by coming forward and reporting the images circulating online.