A Wirral father-of-two, Karl Davies, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the repeated sexual abuse and exploitation of a schoolgirl aged 13 to 14, in a case that marked the first conviction under a new law against encouraging self-harm in a child.
Davies, 42, was convicted of 17 offenses after a “monstrous sense of sexual entitlement” drove him to subject his victim to a year-long campaign of abuse, which a judge said had a “catastrophic” impact.
Predatory Grooming and Calculated Abuse
The court heard that Davies first targeted the girl on Snapchat in June 2023, using several aliases, including “Ben Wild,” to build a relationship that quickly turned sinister. Huw Edwards, prosecuting, said Davies ensured the contact was “more than simply friendship” before using the multiple accounts to manipulate, threaten, and coerce the victim into sending indecent images and videos of herself.
Davies’s aliases became “rather more sinister,” threatening to contact her father if she didn’t comply with his demands. Judge Hilary Manley noted that the defendant used the different identities “not only to try to cover your tracks, but also to manipulate and frighten your victim into continued compliance.”
Sexual Assaults and Encouragement of Self-Harm
The abuse escalated in the summer of 2024 when Davies, posing as an alias named “Mark,” picked the girl up from school in “broad daylight” on four separate occasions to sexually abuse her in his car. She was told by the “Joey” alias (also Davies) to record these sexual acts and share the videos on Snapchat.
In a particularly “depraved and sadistic” element of the crime, Davies also encouraged and coerced the vulnerable young girl into videoing herself self-harming, even buying her razors to “facilitate it.”
Judge Manley condemned this behavior, stating, “To encourage a vulnerable young girl to inflict harm on herself for your sexual gratification really does plumb the depths of abhorrent behaviour.”
Landmark Conviction under Online Safety Act
Davies’s crimes led to a landmark conviction, as he is the first person to be convicted for encouraging serious self-harm to a child under Section 184 of the Online Safety Act 2023.
Despite admitting to the charges, Davies claimed to probation services that he was not sexually interested in children, a statement undermined by his actions, which included abusing the girl in her school uniform and telling her she had a “good body for a 14-year-old.”
Davies was arrested after his victim bravely told her stepmother, and police found a video of the sexual abuse on her phone.
Sentencing him at Manchester Crown Court, Judge Manley imposed an extended sentence, meaning Davies will remain on licence for five years after his custodial term, reflecting his “breath-taking combination of planning, subterfuge and cunning, and a brazen disregard for your victim’s welfare and safety.”
Stacey Gosling, senior Crown prosecutor, commended the conviction, noting she had “never before seen such sophisticated methods used to target a young person,” and expressed hope that the victim can now “begin to move forward knowing her vile abuser has been brought to justice.”
