Twisted man catfished boy and forced him into sex act in scheme to break up teenage couple
The sex offender was “infatuated” with his victim’s 14-year-old girlfriend, and claimed to be a teenage girl online
A man in his 40s catfished a boy and made him video himself carrying out a sex act because he was “infatuated” with the boy’s 14-year-old girlfriend.
Neil Broughton posed as a 16-year-old girl called “Amber” online and targeted the boy, seemingly in an attempt to drive a wedge between the boy and his girlfriend.
Prior to this, Broughton had declared his love for the girl, leading to her blocking him online, Sheffield Crown Court heard.
What followed was a campaign of communication, culminating in the boy sending a video of himself engaged in a solo sex act to “Amber”.
Prosecutor Sophie Lamb told the court that after receiving the video, Broughton began messaging the girl’s mother, asking her what she would do if she knew her daughter was being cheated on.
Broughton subsequently showed the video to the girl’s mother.
She called the police, leading to Broughton’s arrest, Ms Lamb told Sheffield Crown Court.
Ms Lamb explained how in the police interview that followed, Broughton admitted setting up the fake profile, but claimed the boy had sought out and was the one to initiate contact with, “Amber”.
Broughton acknowledged his crimes, however, when he pleaded guilty to sex offences including causing or inciting a boy to engage in sexual activity, taking an indecent photograph pseudo-photograph of a child and distributing an indecent photograph pseudo-photograph of a child.
“It was cruel, it was mean what you did to that boy, 14 as he was. You were a man in your 40s,” The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, told Broughton.
Judge Richardson said he believed Broughton had embarked on the scheme, as a “mechanism” to end the relationship between the two adolescents.
He continued: “You became infatuated with that girl. She, quite understandably, wanted nothing to do with you.”
The boy targeted by Broughton did not provide a statement to the court, and Judge Richardson said it was therefore not possible to gauge the impact on him.
Broughton, of Northgate, Moorends, Doncaster, committed the offences in 2021 and 2022, and was arrested in 2023.
Judge Richardson sentenced Broughton, now aged 51, to two years’ custody, suspended for two years, and ordered him to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.
Broughton must remain on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years, and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order.