Paedo who used rap alter ego ‘Grimey D’ to target 10,000 kids and have sex with vulnerable schoolgirls jailed for 16 years
In reality he was vile pervert still living at home with his mum and dad
A PREDATORY paedophile who used his "gangsta rapper" image to groom underage girls on social media before filming himself having sex with them has been jailed for 16 years.
Daniel Rodriguez, 28, who went by the name Grimey D, used his status in the music world to groom six vulnerable schoolgirls - paying them compliments on popular websites including Instagram and Blackberry Messenger.
But the reality was he was still living at home with his mum and dad.
Today at Wood Green Crown Court he was jailed for a total of 16 years for 15 offences against seven victims, one of whom has still not been identified.
Detectives say he sent out thousands of friends requests between 2012 and 2015 as he trawled the internet for children to abuse.
Once he had identified a potential victim he would invite them to his home where he had sex with them - which he filmed and stored on his computer along with videos of him having sex with men.
He kept the depraved videos and even took 'selfies' of himself pleasuring himself while watching his own personal library of illicit material. But police say there is no suggestion he shared any of the videos with other perverts.
One of his victims revealed to detectives she was dressed in her school uniform when she went to the house where he lived with his parents and sister.
Rodriguez's came to the attention of police during another investigation, while they were examining a 14-year-old girl's phone. On it they found messages indicating she was in a sexual relationship with Grimey D.
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Detectives form Scotland Yard's Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command arrested Rodriguez last August on suspicion of sexual activity wth a child.
Police examined his phone, Blackberry and several USB sticks where they were able to identify four other victims from video clips he had saved.
They showed him having sex with the underage girls.
Rodriguez, of Hackney, east London, pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual activity with a child, four counts of creating indecent images of children and one count of sexual assault.
Detective Constable John Knox of the Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command, said: "Daniel Rodriguez cast this huge net out online, with friend request after friend request, spamming all these girls.
"He sent out 10,000 friend requests, got around 100 acceptances, and had sexual contact with six of them, all from sitting at his computer.
"Rodriguez is a dangerous and predatory paedophile targeting and exploiting young, vulnerable girls.
"He played on his image as a 'gangsta rapper;' his victims were fearful of him and believed they would be hurt if they spoke to anyone in authority."
He added: "He was a predator.
"The girls I've spoken to, and the girls who are likely to have been victims but haven't come forward, think he is a gangster rapper and associate him with gangster rap.
"He has videos online of him associating with people who look a certain way, which would be intimidating to teenage girls.
The reality is he was a 27-year-old man, living at home with his mum and dad and big sister, not exactly the gangster rap image of Doctor Dre
Detective Constable John Knox
"And these girls are intimidated by the fact and worried there would be repercussions, because of his gangster rap image.
"But the reality is he was a 27-year-old man, living at home with his mum and dad and big sister, not exactly the gangster rap image of Doctor Dre."
The first victim had met Rodriguez via Instagram when she was just 13.
By the second visit to his house he was engaging in sexual activity with her and his behaviour was becoming more extreme with each time.
She had attended his home with a friend, also aged 14, and Rodriguez had sex with them.
Three of the other girls identified by police from his memory sticks were aged 14.
From interviews police say "a clear pattern of abuse emerged" where he would make contact over social media, be it Facebook, Instagram and Blackberry Messenger, pay them compliments and tell them he loved them.
One of the girls, who was the sixth victim didn't want to talk to police, but the CPS were able to charge him with making incident images.
Detective Superintendent John MacDonald said: "Rodriguez's exploitation and targeting of young girls was disgusting.
"He used social media to groom children online, paying them complements, pretending to be affectionate and then sexually abusing them.
"Unfortunately this is a pattern of abuse we are increasingly seeing.
"This is a serious case. He has had sex with six kids and he didn't hide the fact he knew how old they were and he targeted them all on social media.
"We have had other cases in the past and other cases going on in the background, which we can't discuss, that mirror this type of offence."
Recently MP for Rotherham Sarah Champion warned that social media gives abusers much greater access to children.
Following the discovery of the USB sticks he was initially charged with two offences against victim one and victim two, with police describing the offences against victim one as "particularly unpleasant" and described as "sexually demeaning".
He originally pleaded to the two offences and was due to be sentenced in November last year, but police requested more time to gather evidence relating to the four other victims.
He eventually pleaded to the further offences in June, but at no point helped the police in their investigation, answering no comment in interview.
Police believe there may be other victims are calling for any other to come forward.
Today an NSPCC spokesman said: “Daniel Rodriguez committed appalling crimes on vulnerable young people and has rightly been given a substantial sentence, which we hope will act as a deterrent to other sex offenders.
"His deplorable activities have highlighted yet again the dangers young people face online from grooming by predators. His prolific offending is likely to have a profound effect on his victims for years to come.
“Too often children who have suffered abuse are denied the mental health support they need until they reach crisis point. Our Its Time campaign is demanding that all child victims of abuse get the support and therapy they need to recover.
“Parents should talk to their children about keeping safe online, including who they are talking to on social media, and make sure they know when and how to seek help.”
The NSPCC has teamed up with O2 to help parents keep their children safe from grooming and other risks – call our free helpline 0808 8005002.