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Leeds Crown Court has sentenced a South Yorkshire Police (SYP) officer who posed as a pedophile hunting vigilante group to extort money from a sex offense suspect to over three years in prison.
PC Marie Thompson, 29, who admitted she ran the scheme to cover her gambling debts, received her sentence of 40 months in jail on Thursday. Decorated ex-constable Steve Perkins took to X with news of the sentence:
Thompson’s ruse began when she headed up a SYP investigation in 2022 that interviewed but later released a man believed to be in possession of indecent images of minors.
According to court reports, the ex-PC used a fake email address posing as part of a pedophile hunting group to attempt to blackmail the man shortly after he was released.
we therefore ask you to make a donation”
“Information has been passed to us that you have been arrested for media involving children,” the threat began. “As an organisation which works to protect children from people such as yourself we therefore ask you to make a donation” to “ensure that information remains between you and us.”
Her request was for £3,500 ($4,597).
The email signed “Paedophile Hunters” provided bank details and a demand to pay up or have his alleged crime made public. The man and his wife decided against paying the money and contacted the police.
It was only in 2023, when Thompson left her SYP team and her caseload got transferred, that another officer stumbled onto her ruse. When the new officer visited the victim and followed up on his blackmail claims, they found a text message to the victim’s family on the same number Thompson used on her police vetting form, leading to her subsequent arrest and arraignment.
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