Sports coach posed as woman on Instagram to get children to send him naked selfies

A male sports coach set up fake Instagram profiles where he posed as a woman in order to get children to send him naked pictures of themselves.

Matthew Anthony, from Staffordshire, chatted with the youngsters – many that he knew from football coaching – before getting them to send him the photos.

The 32-year-old made up two profiles on the social networking site and police who raided his home found hundred of indecent images on his computer.

MORE: Mild weather sends mad March hares bonkers – in February
MORE: Single woman is bored of waiting for Mr Right so is marrying HERSELF

Some of the indecent material included pictures of five babies as young as six months old.

Prosecutor Neil Ahuja told Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court: “The defendant set up and used two fake female profiles.

“He entered into conversation on Instagram for the youngsters to send naked images of themselves to him.

“He would ask some of them if they had seen their friends naked. Naked images of these boys were found on his device.”

The court heard Anthony “discovered he was gay” when he was 15.

Hamish Noble, defending, said: “He knows he has done dreadful things and that they’ve had a great impact on his victims’ lives. He was frank in his police interview to a degree.

“His sexuality has been a troubling area for him since he was 15 years old when he discovered he was gay.

“He has never developed a proper relationship with any other male.

‘He led a private life accessing pornography and had been for five or six years which progressed to more severe offences such as using the internet to induce children to send images to him.

“He knows the impact of what he’s done and he has lost his good character in a significant way. He expresses his real remorse for what he did.”

Anthony admitted making indecent images and causing boys to engage in non-penetrative sexual activity.

Judge Paul Glenn told him that many of the victims were “hugely embarrassed about sending you naked photos.”

He added: “The victims refer to feeling stupid, distraught and disgusted.

“You goaded them into sending you more material by calling them cowards when they wouldn’t.

“It has had a profound impact on the victims and their parents.”

Anthony was jailed for two-and-a-half years, barred from working with children and was handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.

Top pic: SWNS