Lucifer Hunter, a 24-year-old from Folkestone, was sentenced to five years in prison for a series of online child sexual offences targeting vulnerable young girls. Over a four-year period, from when he was aged 18 to 22, Hunter used platforms such as Xbox, TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram to catfish his victims, pretending to be a 16-year-old schoolboy named Lucifer. He built false relationships with four girls aged between 10 and 15, escalating innocent conversations into highly sexualised demands for explicit photos, often focusing on them dressed in school uniforms or tights, which revealed his fetish.
The court at Canterbury Crown Court heard detailed accounts from prosecutor Craig Evans about Hunter's manipulative tactics. He referred to himself as 'Daddy' in chats and even recorded himself masturbating during FaceTime calls with one victim. When the girls resisted or blocked him, Hunter turned aggressive, sending death threats, warnings of rape by associates, and threats to expose their photos to families or post them online. One victim was told she would go to prison for her actions, while another described receiving threats that left her terrified, to the point of screeching and shaking when police mentioned his name during their investigation.
- Hunter targeted his youngest victim, aged 10, when he was 20, soliciting indecent images and engaging in sexual communication.
- Police discovered 448 indecent images on his two iPhones, categorised across all levels of seriousness, including stills and videos.
- Among his belongings, officers found a pack of knickers for girls aged two to three, with one pair missing.
- One victim, who considered him her 'online boyfriend', ended the contact, prompting Hunter to threaten to reveal her 'bad things' and post content online, causing her significant distress.
Hunter's arrest in December 2023 followed a report from one victim's relative about the explicit photos. Despite initial 'no comment' interviews, he later pleaded guilty to 14 offences, including online child sexual activity, sexual communication with a child, sending indecent or offensive communications, threatening to disclose private sexual photos with intent to cause distress, and possessing indecent images. Defence barrister Max Reeves argued for a suspended sentence, citing Hunter's mental health issues such as features of ADHD, autism, and depressive anxiety disorder, along with his remorse and lack of prior convictions. However, Judge Simon Taylor KC rejected this, describing the offences as 'exceptionally grave' and Hunter's behaviour as 'determined, persistent, and sophisticated'.
In passing sentence on Friday, 23 October 2025, Judge Taylor stated: 'You lied, connived, degraded, threatened and blackmailed your four child victims, and only stopped because you were caught. What was at its core was planned, manipulative, harmful behaviour. You knew your conduct had the potential to cause great harm but you just didn't care.' Hunter, who lives with his mother in The Stade, Folkestone, appeared confused in court and cried, apologising to his sobbing mother before being led away. He must serve two-thirds of his sentence before release and is subject to a 15-year sexual harm prevention order and indefinite sex offender notification requirements. Victim impact statements highlighted the profound effects, with one girl feeling her 'girlhood' was stolen and another slowly losing her sense of self, as described by her mother.
The case was reported by Plymouth Live, based on proceedings at Canterbury Crown Court, underscoring the dangers of online grooming and the importance of digital safety for children.