Victims of Worthing paedophile speak out after predator sentenced

Jordan Croft, 26, from Worthing, West Sussex, admitted forcing 26 victims aged 12-22, most of whom were children, to send photos and videos of them performing sexual and degrading acts on themselves and others.

In August, Croft pleaded guilty to 65 charges, including multiple counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, blackmail, making unwarranted demands for indecent images of children, intentionally causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a child, and making over 900 indecent images of children. Click here to read more about how Croft was caught.

He was sentenced at Lewes Crown Court today (November 11) to 18 years in prison, and a further eight years on licence.

Harrowing statements from some of Croft’s victims were shown during a media briefing this week.

One victim said: “I was terrified of you and I thought there was no way out. You trapped me. You scared me. I couldn’t believe that someone could be that violent and nasty.”

Another said: “I feared that I would get into trouble and no-one would believe me. This was the darkest period of my life. In fact I still feel like I am to blame.”

And another said: “Your atrocious actions have ruined the lives of hundreds, if not thousands of young girls who will never forget or allow themselves to forget what you did to them. Like me they will always live with the thought what you did to us, eating away at our happiness and ourselves as a whole.”

Martin Ludlow, senior investigating officer, discussed the NCA’s investigation into Croft during the media briefing.

He described Croft as a ‘prolific and particularly depraved’ online offender who ‘impacted every aspect’ of his victims’ lives. He added: “His cruelty and lack of empathy, to me, was particularly striking to me and all those involved. I’ve seen the messages and he showed no sympathy. It was just about him getting exactly what he wanted.”

Mr Ludlow said Croft’s method was to seek out victims online via various chat platforms, ‘often under the guise of being a teenage boy’.

“He was always under the protection of another person’s identity,” he said. “His ultimate aim was to dominate and control his victims by making them his sex slaves.

"They were made to agree contracts to say they were indeed his sex slaves. He would go on to blackmail to send them increasingly graphic material at all times of the day. The contract stated their body was the property of Croft and they would have to accept anything he asked for, no matter how painful or disgusting. They were very young children and Croft continued whilst they were at school. They were often begging him to stop.”

Mr Ludlow said Croft forced his victims to film themselves during degrading acts and to abuse other young children by taking photos and sending them to him.

The NCA said Croft messaged more than 5,000 people on a messaging app before encouraging his victims onto an encrypted chat service where ‘he felt he was safe’.

He then revealed he was a catfish and paedophile and threatened his victims with punishments.

"It was all about obtaining power and control over these females, whilst seeking sexual gratification,” Mr Ludlow said. “His level of security was outstanding. His technical knowledge was extremely high. He was extremely confident he wouldn’t be caught. I feel extremely proud of the team that we managed to find who this victim was.”

NCA officers arrested Croft in September, 2019, after identifying him as the man behind various usernames which featured in reports of online abuse filed by a number of police forces in England. This offending dated back to April, 2018. It took investigators until March last year to access the encryption after which they found 906 images of children.

Mr Ludlow said: “We’ve seen the amount of distress, physical and mental, this has caused to the victims and their families. This continues to this day and will for many years to come.”