Essex Police officer groomed young girls on Snapchat – Southend Echo

AN Essex Police officer and “caring father” manipulated a dozen young girls by using a fake personal to trick his victims into sending him intimate photographs.  In August last year Mark Ling, 39, used his nine-year-old daughter’s phone to download TikTok and Snapchat and speak to 12 girls, who were under the age of 16.  He manipulated them into sending intimate photographs and engaging in sexual activity, while posing as “Jessie” and her fictive boyfriend, Tom.  Ling, who has been jailed for four-and-a-half years, engaged with the victims and engaged them in “loyalty tests”, a type of online challenge which tests faithfulness in relationships.  He used the challenges obtained pictures of his victims naked. One of the victims said she lost trust in people, especially police officers, saying: “The police are supposed to be trusted professionals with good intentions to help and support people – the Essex badge says protect and serve.   “I feel that he has shown the complete opposite to this, and it makes me doubt other police officers.”  Judge Martyn Levett said: “You were in a position of trust, perhaps more than any of us, and despite your good character and the fact these offences did not occur when
Read More