Sheffield man sentenced to eight years for online grooming

A 37-year-old Sheffield man has today been sentenced to eight years in prison for the online grooming of children.

Daniel Andrew Elms, of Floodgate Drive, Ecclesfield, was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court after pleading guilty to 16 offences including threats to kill, inciting children to engage in sexual activity, making and possessing indecent images of children, and the distribution of an indecent image of a child.

Elms’ offences took place over a three-year period and involved seven victims, aged between 13 and 16-years-old, from around the country in Scotland, Humberside and West Mercia.

From his Sheffield home, Elms purported to be a younger male on social media sites to befriend his victims and get them to perform sexual acts via a webcam. Elms filmed these acts on his mobile and then blackmailed his victims to carry on performing sexual acts by threatening to release the videos to their family and friends.

In addition to the eight-year sentence, Elms will spend the rest of his life on the sex offenders’ register with strict rules applied.