A teenage predator obsessed with graphic pornography held his head in his hands as the extent of his social media grooming campaign was outlined in court. Dylan Matthews, 20, progressed from a disturbing hunt for more extreme forms of online material to searching the internet for children - some as young as 12 - who he demanded sexually explicit images and conversations from.
Matthews' messages were extremely sexual and graphic in their nature. He offered to buy the children vapes and drugs including ketamine and cannabis. But he also quickly turned angry and malicious if the children blocked him on the messaging platforms, threatening to expose conversations and images to their school, friends and in one particularly nasty occasion a girl's boyfriend.
Court Proceedings
A crown court judge told Matthews, of Elmcroft Close in Fazakerley: "You found [your victims] by scouring social media using Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok and WhatsApp. Not every child responded but a lot were drawn deeper into areas children should not experience."
Matthews, who sat hunched over for much of the sentencing, held his head in his hands and covered his face while hearing the extent of the 53 different offences against 37 victims. The judge added: "I note you have your head in your hands in the dock. As well you may."
The scale of Matthews' crimes were laid bare across three separate hearings at Liverpool Crown Court due to the number of victims and the complexities of both the investigation and the judge's sentencing. The court heard Matthews made contact with dozens of girls using social media before moving contact onto WhatsApp.
Details of Offences
Matthews' offending stretched across a number of years from when he was 16 to 19. His offending culminated in a "frenetic period of two weeks" between August and September 2024 where he used the internet as a "feeding ground for young victims".
He sent images of his genitals to a 12-year-old girl and asked for pictures in return and said he wanted to have sex with her. Matthews asked another for indecent videos of herself in her school uniform and said he would travel to her home town to have sex with her. He asked to see a 14-year-old in her bikini, sent another girl the same age an image of his genitals and discussed sexual encounters in a woodland area with a 13-year-old.
The sick offender told another girl he would buy her vodka and ketamine and threatened to tell her boyfriend about their contact if she did not send images. Meanwhile he told a 15-year-old that he would arrange a hotel to meet up her at.
The ECHO has chosen to not report most of the details surrounding his offending. None of the victims can be identified because of the nature of the offences against them.
Investigation and Arrest
Simon Christie, prosecuting, said Matthews' offending had first come to the attention of a specialist probe in March 2024 after a report was made to Cheshire Police by a mum. The case was investigated and sent to Merseyside Police who probed it and Matthews was identified as a suspect. On June 19 of the same year another report was made after a girl was asked for indecent images. Two days later Matthews was identified as a suspect. He was ultimately arrested for the first time September 4, 2024 and his mobile was seized.
Matthews handed over the PIN to his phone and officers found 36 different chats referred to in the case as well as indecent images and videos. A further review found "first generation videos" showing a female in woodland wearing a school uniform. The police later confirmed the school as one from the Wirral and in June of 2025 officers identified the girl, aged 14. Matthews was then arrested at Manchester Airport in August 2025 and was remanded in custody.
Victim Impact
The dad of the 14-year-old identified in the woods in uniform told the court she had tried to take her own life on two occasions. He said: "My once quirky ray of sunshine is battling every day and she can't find a way to express her emotions," adding: "I won't let him take any more away from us...this should never have happened to my child in the first place."
One girl preyed upon by Matthews told the court: "It changed the way I feel in my own body and mind. I have panic attacks, my heart pounds so much it hurts. I can't sleep on my own anymore, I am scared of the dark like a child...I have to get into bed with my mum." She told the court she had feelings of guilt, adding: "There is a voice in my head that says 'why didn't you stop it?' This has taken away my confidence, I second guess everything I say and do. Sometimes I pretend I'm okay because it's easier than saying I'm not."
The mum of another teenager said her daughter was the "victim of exploitation, manipulation and coercion". The mum added: "She was taken advantage of by a man who used bribery and threats and pressured her into sending images and threatened to have them shared. She no longer feels safe and her sense of trust in others is damaged...it has taken away part of her childhood and innocence." Another teen victim told the court she had misused drugs because she could not cope with what had happened. She said she felt "dirty and gross" and had "questioned my own self-worth". Addressing Matthews directly, she said: "Dylan, I hope you think about what you did for the rest of your life. I hope you are going to be punished."
Defence and Sentencing
Matthews had no previous convictions. He initially was charged with 100 different offences which was eventually whittled down to 53 sexual offences across two different indictments. He eventually pleaded guilty to causing a child to engage in sexual activity; threatening to disclose private sexual images with intent; two counts of sexual activity with a child; six counts of causing or inciting sexual activity with a child; 37 counts of engaging sexual communications with a child; two counts of making class B indecent images of children; three counts of making class C images of children; and malicious communications.
In mitigation, Damian Nolan, defending, told the court: "This sentencing exercise is a difficult one because it involves multiple offences; multiple victims both over and under the age of 13; and the fact the defendant carried out the offences between the ages of 16 and 19." Mr Nolan confirmed to the court his client carried out his offending "for his own sexual gratification". He added: "What the court may be asking is how a young male who was 16 through to his early adulthood committed this number of offences with this number of victims. From a young age - around 10 - this defendant was allowed unsupervised access to social media. He was left with no parental supervision and developed an interest with more intense forms of pornography. By his mid-teens he had been desensitised to the pornography and had begun searching for even more explicit forms of it." Mr Nolan said his client had then started to contact girls on social media, even when he knew their ages. He added the reality of the offending occurred because "there was a lack of appropriate parenting", but Matthews had "taken responsibility by pleading guilty". The defence lawyer said his client's offending was "better understood from his own sexual preoccupation; his emotional immaturity; and his poor self-management". He added the age of 25 was when the court would expect an "adult level of maturity" and "people do not just change their personality and emotional makeup when they have their 18th birthday".
Sentencing, Judge Ian Harris told the court that reports from a psychiatrist and the Probation Service documented the social challenges Matthews had experienced which included vulnerabilities surrounding boundaries, social rules and consent. However, he added that the vulnerabilities did not account for the offending which "showed deception, repetition, escalation and repeated decision making involving multiple victims". The judge added that the reports showed Matthews' risk of harm to children in the future was high. Judge Harris said Matthews' dad had provided a statement to the court where he and the teen's mum blamed themselves for the lack of adequate online supervision. The judge said the statement showed Matthews' had found his experiences on remand to be traumatic, but added: "That is balanced by the trauma you caused a lot of your victims." The judge told Matthews, who was unsupported in court: "The consequences of your sexual predatory actions are graphically set out in the victim statements. Conversations led to online and physical abuse. Your offending has damaged a lot of your victims and their families."
Judge Harris sentenced Matthews to seven years and one month in a young offenders' institution. Matthews, who wore a shirt and tie and sported long curly hair in court, will remain on the sex offenders' register for life meaning he will be automatically barred from working with children and young adults. A sexual harm prevention order will be discussed at a future hearing.
Police Statement
Speaking after the sentencing, investigating officer Detective Sergeant Amie Jones, of Merseyside Police, said: "Matthews has been proven to be a prolific, calculated and dangerous offender, who caused extreme harm to his victims through coercion and abuse. We hope that today's outcome provides a measure of comfort as they continue their recovery, and some reassurance that Matthews will be in custody for a significant length of time."
