A sick 18-year-old has been jailed after he encouraged a vulnerable young girl to self-harm and perform degrading acts for the gratification of a group of online perverts.
Details of the Abuse
Elijah Palmer subjected his victim to a sustained campaign of vile abuse after meeting her on the kids game Roblox. She was forced to produce sexually-explicit images of herself and self-harm on camera using blackmail and threats to her family.
Palmer previously pleaded guilty to several counts of making and possessing child sexual abuse material, as well as perverting the course of justice, causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent and encouraging serious self-harm.
A court heard how he was linked to the foul '764' group – an online group who specialise in sextortion and sadomasochism where members deliberately target vulnerable victims to extort them for 'content' to share with other loathsome members in their network.
How the Grooming Unfolded
Sheffield Crown Court heard that Palmer first contacted his victim through the popular online children's game Roblox before moving their conversation to the Discord chat platform.
His requests started off seemingly harmless, but he became increasingly demanding over time until he was threatening her unless she sent him nude images as well as evidence of her self-harming and carrying out various awful acts of degradation.
In order to control his young victim Palmer threatened her family, used blackmail and even began setting up a fake bomb threat that he said he would send to a local school and which would lead back to her if she didn't fulfil his sick demands.
Police Investigation and Charges
After the victim reported her ordeal to South Yorkshire Police detectives found he had links to the '764' group. Members of the horrific online club compete to manipulate their victims into sharing explicit 'content' – including of self-harm or sexual acts - which they share amongst the group to gain notoriety.
Members of this group frequently create multiple online identities to torment their victims, - Palmer used various aliases across many social media accounts on different platforms to hide his identity.
He told his victim that he was sharing the content he had exploited from her with his vile pals in the 764 group, in a bid to further shame and intimidate her. Cops swooped in June 2025 seizing his devices and releasing him on bail as their investigations continued.
Palmer violated the terms of his bail by trying to contact his victim in a bid to get her to retract her statement to police. He was later charged with perverting the course of justice.
In police interview, Palmer initially denied all knowledge of the offending. He claimed he had previously joined the 764 network 'because of the thrill', but had since the left the group. Police and prosecutors worked closely to build a body of evidence, resulting in Palmer subsequently pleading guilty to his crimes.
Sentencing and Statements
Elijah Palmer, 18, pleaded guilty to encouraging or assisting serious self-harm, causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent, making indecent photographs of children, making indecent photographs of a child, possessing an extreme pornographic image and perverting the course of justice.
He was sentenced to 4 years, 9 months with a further 4 years on extended license at Sheffield Crown Court.
Detective Chief Inspector Scott Harrison said: "Technology can be an extremely useful tool, but unfortunately we know that a small number of people look to abuse online platforms. The Introduction of the Online Safety Act in 2023 is allowing us to investigate and prosecute those who choose to cause harm using these online platforms."
"Offenders may think they can hide behind usernames on these online platforms, but this is far from the truth, we will find them. Victims of these crimes are never to blame, and I want to reassure anyone who may think they have been a victim that you will be listened to and supported."
Role of the Online Safety Act
Prosecutors were able to charge Palmer for the harm caused under new provisions of the Online Safety Act which criminalise those who encourage others to self-harm online.
Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS Yorkshire & Humberside Caroline Deacon said: "This was a deeply disturbing case involving the calculated and deliberate targeting of a vulnerable young victim. Palmer blackmailed and threatened his victim, demanding increasingly degrading acts to serve himself and build his reputation amongst other members of the 764 group."
"The Online Safety Act introduced new offences which allow us to prosecute those who encourage others to self-harm online."
"This case demonstrates exactly why that legislation was necessary, and that the CPS will not hesitate to use these powers where the evidence supports it."
Working closely with South Yorkshire Police, we built a compelling case based on the victim's account and digital evidence recovered from Palmer's devices, resulting in him subsequently pleading guilty. We also applied for bad character evidence of a similar pattern of offending against another victim in the United States to demonstrate a similar pattern of offending to the court.
"I hope this result gives some measure of justice to the victim in this case, who showed immense courage in coming forward. I hope her bravery can inspire other victims to come forward in the knowledge the criminal justice system will take them seriously."
