Dylan Matthews, 20, pleaded guilty to 53 offences involving girls as young as 12
Dylan Matthews, 20 and of Elmcroft Close in Fazakerley, was sentenced to seven years and one month for 53 sexual offences(Image: Merseyside Police)
The teenage victim of a young man who used social media to prey on young girls faced him down in court and told him: “I hope you are going to be punished.” Dylan Matthews, 20, appeared pathetic and alone as he stared at the floor while one of his young victims bravely looked down on him from the witness stand as she told a courtroom about the ongoing effect the pervert’s actions had on her.
Matthews, of Elmcroft Close in Fazakerley, progressed from a disturbing hunt for more extreme forms of pornography 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.
He appeared in Liverpool Crown Court’s courtroom 51 over three separate hearings in recent weeks where the horrifying extent of his crimes were revealed.
In total Matthews pleaded guilty to 53 offences involving 37 victims. Much of the abuse was online and included inciting sexual actions or communications. But there were also contact offences where he met girls considerably younger than himself.
Much of his perverted messaging was too depraved to report. But many of his victims and their families chose to attend court to face down the abuser and have their carefully curated statements, outlining the impact Matthews’ actions had on both their child and their wider family, read into the record.
Sentencing, Judge Ian Harris told the predator: “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.”
The dad of a 14-year-old girl who met Matthews told the court she had tried to take her own life on two occasions. He said Matthews’ “actions were calculated and thought out over a period of months” and had “a profound impact” on his daughter.
He said his daughter had withdrawn from her family and their previous close relationship had become strained. This had led him to “plead” with social services as his daughter used “self harm as a release”. Her younger sister had become scared of her because of her outbursts, he added.
The dad said the family were “coming to terms [with what happened] day-to-day,” adding: “Some are good, most are bad.” He finished: “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.”
The mum of a 15-year-old abused by Matthews said her teen “had been the victim of exploitation, manipulation and coercion” which had resulted in a “devastating impact on her [and] our life”. The mum said her daughter “was taken advantage of” and Matthews had “used bribery and threats and pressured [her] into sending images and threatened to have them shared”.
The mum said supporting the teen had been “emotionally exhausting” because of the “lasting impact” Matthews’ crimes had on her. She said her daughter “no longer feels safe and her sense of trust in others is damaged,” adding: “It has taken away part of her childhood and innocence.”
The mum of a 13-year-old said since Matthews’ groomed her the girl’s life had been significantly affected. The mum said her daughter had “experienced distress, anxiety and confusion as a result of being encouraged and manipulated into sexual activity”. She added this had led to feelings of “shame, fear and distrust”.
The mum said it was “extremely painful to see your child try and process something so inappropriate and harmful when she should have been focused on growing up”. She added: “Our home which once felt carefree now carries vigilance. We have had to rebuild a sense of safety taken from us.”
She called Matthews’ “calculated exploitation that leaves lasting trauma,” adding: “The psychological effects of this crime are not temporary…my child is working hard to heal, but healing does not erase the harm done.”
The mum of a 14-year-old said: “She was a happy little girl before this, was confident and active on her phone with her friends. I now have an angry little girl…she does not know how to react to people.” She said her daughter does not go out, instead she stays at home in bed because “she does not know who she can trust”.
The mum told the court: “She thinks she has done something wrong. He has taken away her empowerment as a young beautiful female.” Meanwhile the dad of a 16-year-old added: “What should have been a period of growing in independence and confidence has been overshadowed by fear and distress.”
While most of the powerful words came from parents, some of Matthews’ victims provided their own impact statements. One 14-year-old girl said she felt “extremely embarrassed and thought my family would judge me”. She said she felt feelings of guilt, anxiety and anger which caused her to lash out against her family.
Because the abuse only happened over the phone, the girl said she did not know what Matthews really looked like so she could not go anywhere on her own. “I had extreme anxiety that he would find me”, she said. She said it took her a while to trust again but when she met a partner they broke up with her after finding out about the court case.
She told the court: “Dylan Matthews took away years of my childhood and caused damage that will follow me for the rest of my life.”
Most of the statements were read to the court by Simon Christie, prosecuting, but one victim – aged 14 at the time – took to the witness stand and faced down her abuser. She told the court that she had misused drugs because she had struggled to cope with what had happened.
She said she felt “dirty and gross” and had “questioned my own self-worth”. Addressing Matthews 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.”
In mitigation, Damian Nolan, defending, told 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”.
Judge Harris told the defendant: “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 his crimes. The judge added: “I note you have your head in your hands in the dock. As well you may.”
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.
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.”
