"Shocking Moment Catfish Predator Targets 350 Kids from His Bedroom Before Tattoo Reveals 'UK's Worst Paedophile'"

A RANDOM notification on Snapchat from Chloe Norris, 16, saying she had added him to her friends, led a 15-year-old boy to casually tap ‘Accept’.

That simple action in 2018 lead to years of traumatic sexual abuse and online that was to make his life hell.

The paedophile, who had 41,000 indecent videos on his phone, told the judge he ‘had no remorse’Credit: Channel 4 Lang was jailed for 21 yearsCredit: Channel 4 Lang was described as ‘careless’ having also unintentionally shown his face during one video callCredit: Channel 4

“She sent a picture of herself and asked for one in return and it interested me,” admits Sam, not his real name.

Things started to get sexual very quickly, with Chloe sending him naked pictures of herself, promising more and explicit ones if he sent similar of himself.

“We started to exchange pictures and she seemed trustworthy,” Sam said.

“Then she sent a message saying she had taken recordings of my videos and that if I didn’t keep sending her stuff and do what she says, she would send them to all my friends, family and my school. It was really scary.”

What he did not know at the time was that Chloe was not a 16-year-old girl at all but a 24-year-old man, named Jay Lang, who had abused hundreds of similar victims in for his own sexual kicks and financial gain.

But it was the power he craved the most, targeting vulnerable children, some as young as 11, who had suicidal thoughts and self-harmed after being caught in his evil trap.

It was the bravery of Sam eventually telling his parents, in spite of feeling ashamed and embarrassed, that led police to Lang where they realised the extent of his four-year online abuse, which marked him as one of the biggest paedophiles in history.

In the documentary, , some of his victims and the police who brought down Lang’s downfall, talk about how he manipulated impressionable young boys in his guise as attractive Chloe and how he arrogantly denied it all until the last moment.

“’Chloe’ most regularly used a picture of herself with brunette hair,” says Det Sgt Ben Rushmere, the supervising officer on the Child Exploitation Taskforce at Essex Police, who led the investigation.

“It had the lure of being an attractive image to 11-17 year old boys as somebody they would want to speak to and probably feel quite flattered that that person had approached them.

“The relationship would start very friendly before becoming flirtatious and increasingly sexual.”

Once she had hooked her victim in with nude images of herself, she would send flattering comments about their pictures like, “Omg. So fit,” and “That’s so hot.”

All the time she would be encouraging them to be more provocative, posting such messages as, “Pull ‘em down,” “I’ll send close-ups if you send more,” and “Do face, chest, d*** together.”

“I was young and naive,” Sam tells the documentary. “I didn’t know what to do so I just had to go along with it. When you are growing up, especially, you are embarrassed about stuff like that.”

Arrogant & ‘invincible’

Victims had been suffering in silence from Chloe’s threats over the three years she had been doing this, until November 2021 when the pressure got too much for Sam.

“I was like, ‘I can’t do this anymore,’” he says. “I called one of my friends and they convinced me to tell my dad.

“So, I went downstairs, bawled my eyes out and told him straight away and he called the police and the next day I was in the police station.

“I sat down and spoke to the detective and it did make me feel way, way better, rather than, like, crisis mode. And I ended up blocking Chloe Norris and letting the police do their investigation.”

Initially, detective thought this to be a one-off extortion case.

An examination of Sam’s mobile phone revealed Chloe’s Snapchat account and, crucially, her IP address that identified the device from where she was sending her malicious messages.

Mr Lang said to the judge that he had no remorse about what he had done and that he had great pleasure and enjoyment out of the power and control that he had over these children.

Det Sgt Ben Rushmere

It led police to an address in Canvey Island, Essex.

There was no Chloe Norris listed but there was a 24-year-old man named Jay Lang living there with his mum.

He was taken to Basildon Police Station for questioning while other officers scoured his home for potentially incriminating electrical devices.

At the station he denied everything.

“I remember thinking he was a bit arrogant and that he thought he was invincible,” says Ben.

‘Keep digging’ distraction

Video footage of his police interview show Lang tried to manipulate officers and mislead them by suggesting another person was involved before refusing to reveal further information.

Lang tells the investigating officers: “Keep digging.”

One replies: “We’ve done the investigation and it points to you mate. That’s the reason why we’re here.”

“Keep digging, it won’t, trust me,” he replies. “I’m 100 per cent it won’t.”

Det Rushmere says: “He was trying to groom us as well, which I find quite common in predators and sexual offenders.

“They don’t normally fight with police, they don’t normally want to be your enemy; they want to be your friend. They almost play the victim themselves in front of us.”

Commenting on the footage, psychologist Dr Roberta Babb said: “By saying ‘keep digging’, he is really demonstrating a lack of remorse.

One message from sicko Lang, who posed as Chloe onlineCredit: Channel 4 Det Sgt Ben Rushmere urges victims to speak out to end their ordeals and potentially others tooCredit: Channel 4

“But I think what he’s also trying to do is to maintain a sense of control and superiority because we know that power and control were core aspects of his offending behaviour.”

After around 45 minutes, Lang said: “I’d like to add a statement. I did not message anyone under the age of 15. If I did, then they had said they were 16.

While Lang was released on bail, pending further investigation, his phones were examined by data forensic experts and police delved into his background.

“He had a female partner with a small child, less than a year old and had a local job ferrying party items to addresses for a local business,” says Ben.

“It wasn’t the normal person you would associate with this kind of offending and that’s the terrifying thing about it, really.”

Downloads from his phones uncovered the scale of his offending. There were several hundred victims ranging from 11 to 17 who he had coerced into sending indecent images. There were also some adults amongst his victims.

Police began knocking on doors of those he had targeted.

“Some boys were in complete denial of what had happened and they didn’t want any police involvement and so we walked away because it didn’t feel right to challenge them if they were not ready to accept it themselves,” says Ben.

“As a parent myself, even as a police officer, I’m not sure how I would react in that situation.

“We had boys, who had quite a good reputation within their schools and with their parents, not coming forward because they thought they were the ones who had done wrong.”

Sicko Jay Lang was unmasked by a ‘mum’ tattoo discovered in one videoCredit: Channel 4 Lang was cocky in his interviewsCredit: Channel 4

41,000 vile vids

With digital evidence increasing and multiple victims coming forward, police found that Lang had been careless at times during video chats.

Part of the tattoo of “Mum” he had on his inner wrist was partially visible in one image and in another he had accidentally shown his face.

Some 352 victims were identified and his phones contained around 41,000 indecent videos and 14,000 images.

Twenty-six brave teens agreed to come face-to-face with their abuser in a court case scheduled for 22 December, 2022.

She sent a message saying she had taken recordings of my videos and that if I didn’t keep sending her stuff and do what she says, she would send them to all my friends, family and my school. It was really scar

Victim

It was then that Lang, having denied everything during three police interviews, changed tack and pleaded guilty to all 46 charges against him.

In September 2023 he appeared at Basildon Crown Court for sentencing. Before revealing his decision, the judge invited victims to speak about how Lang’s actions had impacted their lives.

“There were 13 victim impact statements, some from family members, and it was probably the hardest part of the case for me,” says Ben.

“We had children who had come very close to suicide and several who had been severely self-harming.

“It was interesting that Mr Lang said to the judge that he had no remorse about what he had done and that he had great pleasure and enjoyment out of the power and control that he had over these children.”

He received a 21 year sentence.

Ben Rushmere is keen to encourage young exploited people to speak out about their abusers and put any feelings of shame and embarrassment to one side.

Lang was believed to have 220 victimsCredit: Channel 4

“When You Are Ready is a national initiative by the Child Sexual Exploitation Taskforce that has been developed alongside victims that encourages people who have become a victim of sexual abuse or sexual exploitation to come forward,” he says.

“I would encourage people who have been targeted by sexual predators, or know somebody who has, to come to police. You will be taken seriously and we will investigate any allegations as thoroughly as we possibly can.”

Another anonymous victim stresses the importance of not suffering alone.

“I just want other victims to understand that this happens to a lot of different people and that they’re not alone,” he says.

“And to know how easy it is – although it may not seem like it at the time – to go through the process of reporting it and that they can get out of that situation much easier than they think.”

See the full story on Channel 4’s Social Media Monsters – 10pm, Tuesday 13 January, Channel 4.

Anyone who has experienced child sexual abuse can also find details of
local support services at www.whenyouareready.com .