A Nigerian man who used fake social media profiles to convince young women to send compromising images of themselves before blackmailing and raping one of them, has been jailed in the U.K.

Rhys Miller Offiong, 24 was jailed for 15 years with a four-year extended licence at Woolwich Crown Court on Thursday, 6 December. On his release, he will be made to sign the Sex Offenders Register for an indefinite period and will be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Offiong had pleaded guilty to one count of rape, one count of blackmail, four counts of distributing indecent images of a child, three counts of disclosing private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress, and one count of committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence.

An investigation was launched after he raped a 19-year-old woman at an address in Catford on 24 August 2017. He had met the woman online using a fake profile. .

He had initially persuaded her to send intimate images to him and then set up a meeting with her. When the victim attended and realised Offiong was not the person she thought she had been engaging with online, he threatened to send the images to her friends and family if she refused to go with him. .

Under duress, the woman went with him to an address in Catford where she was raped. Further investigations established two other young women who had been snared online by the convict and tricked into sending compromising images and videos of themselves to him.

Detective Constable Paul Harakis of the Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command said: “Miller-Offiong is a predatory sex offender who has drawn unsuspecting girls into his sexual trap via social media.”