Austen Tobias Fleming, a 28-year-old former soldier from Kilsyth, North Lanarkshire, has been imprisoned for 24 years following his admission to 83 counts of cyber-enabled child sexual abuse and exploitation. The offences, which spanned from December 2020 to January 2023, involved the grooming and extortion of numerous underage victims across Scotland, Wales, and England. Fleming, who was stationed at Dishforth Airfield near Thirsk in North Yorkshire, utilised fake social media profiles, including those posing as females, to befriend and manipulate children into sending indecent images and videos.
The investigation, led by North Yorkshire Police's Online Child Abuse Team (OCAT), began in November 2022 after intelligence revealed Fleming's attempt to extort sexual imagery from a child. Upon his arrest on 14 November 2022, detectives searched his accommodation and examined his digital devices, uncovering the prolific scale of his activities. Fleming covertly recorded his interactions with victims to use as leverage, threatening to distribute the material to their families or friends if they did not comply with further demands. In some instances, he sent small payments or vouchers to coerce additional explicit content. The victims, ranging in age from 10 to 17, hailed from regions including Kent, London, Surrey, Sussex, Lincolnshire, Birmingham, Warwickshire, Nottingham, Cheshire, Lancashire, West Yorkshire, Humberside, Durham, and North Yorkshire.
Fleming's charges included 25 counts of inciting a child to engage in non-penetrative sexual activity, 23 counts of causing sexual exploitation of a child to transmit indecent images, 5 counts of inciting penetrative sexual activity, 1 count of obtaining sexual services from a child by payment, 5 counts of blackmail, 2 counts of causing a child to view sexual activity, and various counts related to making and distributing indecent images of children in Categories A, B, and C. The impact on victims was profound; one child was so traumatised by the threats that they attempted suicide, while others were left in states of extreme fear and distress.
Sentenced at Leeds Crown Court on 21 October 2025, Fleming received a 24-year custodial term, plus an additional three years on licence. He was also subjected to an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life. The presiding judge commended the North Yorkshire Police team for their thorough investigation. Detective Constable Tom Sutcliffe, who led the probe, described Fleming as a 'depraved offender who poses a significant danger to young people,' highlighting the collaborative efforts with police forces across the UK and social services to safeguard the victims. This case underscores the pervasive threat of online child exploitation and the importance of vigilant law enforcement in combating it.