Victim of sextortion allowed his bank account to be used to sextort 15 others, court hears
Claire Henry
A man who was a victim of sextortion allowed his bank account to be used to sextort 15 other young men, a court heard.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Mirons Nekrasovs (21) of Boroimhe Laurels, Swords, Dublin, pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering on various dates between November 2023 and July 2024.
He has no previous convictions and has not come to any other negative garda attention since.
Lawyers for Nekrasovs told the court that the defendant had himself been a victim of “sextortion” and this led to his account being used to extort money from other victims.
After sending explicit images of himself to someone online, Nekrasovs was told the images would be sent to his contacts if he didn't do what he was told to do.
Defence counsel, Oisin Clarke, said that his client was coerced and “after a point of time when his financial contributions were exhausted, he was coerced into allowing his account to be used”.
On Tuesday, Nekrasovs was handed a two-and-a-half year sentence, suspended on strict conditions.
Garda Jason O’Carroll told Tessa White , prosecuting, that in July 2024, an 18-year-old man presented to a local garda station with his mother.
He told gardaí that he had received a friend request on Instagram from someone he believed was a girl from Manchester and of a similar age to him.
The girl then asked to move the conversation to Snapchat, and they continued to chat. The young man asked the girl to send him a picture, and she sent him one of herself naked. The young man had not asked for a naked picture. The girl then asked him to send a picture, and he sent her an explicit image and video.
The court heard that the young man then received a message asking for €500 or the image and video would be sent to all his contacts.
The man said he did not have €500 and sent a screenshot of his Revolut account, which showed just over €120. He was told to send on the money that he had and was given bank details, which were later traced back to Nekrasovs.
After the young man had sent all the money he had, he was told he would still have to pay the remainder of the €500. The young man then told his mother what had happened.
Gda O’Carroll said gardaí contacted Revolut and obtained information regarding Nekrasovs’ account. A warrant was issued for his address, and his home was searched.
He handed over his phone, laptop and PINs. His phone was analysed and showed that 15 other individuals had been transferring money to his account, totalling €24,000.
The court heard that these 15 individuals were all men aged between 18 and 24. The young man in this case was the only one willing to make a statement to the gardaí.
During the analysis of Nekrasov’s phone, gardaí found two videos in a privacy folder. The videos depicted a child aged six or seven striking a sexual pose, removing their underwear and having their genital area exposed.
Nekrasovs pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), known in law as child pornography, on July 3rd, 2024.
Gda O’Carroll agreed with Clarke that his client came forward on signed pleas and co-operated with the gardaí.
The garda agreed with counsel that Nekrasovs had also been a victim of sextortion and had sent images of himself and was then told that if he did not do what he was told to do, the images would be sent to his contacts.
The garda agreed messages were found on the defendant's phone stating this.
Counsel told the court that the people behind the money laundering crimes were an international crime unit located across the world, and that they are proficient in this type of cybercrime.
Clarke put it to Gda O’Carroll that his client states he found a phone while on holiday, and when he got a new phone, the CSAM automatically downloaded onto the phone that was analysed by the gardaí.
Gda O’Carroll agreed with counsel that there was no indication that his client was seeking this type of material online.
He testified that gardaí had looked at the defendant's search history on both his phone and laptop, and there was no evidence of any searches for CSAM.
A probation report before the court placed Nekrasovs at low to average risk of re-offending.
Clarke submitted that the threat was “insidious” and “extremely anxiety-inducing” for his client, who accepted in hindsight that he should have gone to the gardaí.
He said it was “morbid curiosity” which led to his client having the CSAM on his phone and that gardaí have accepted it does not appear that the material was distributed or viewed.
Clarke asked the court to consider giving his client the benefit of Section 100 of the Probation Act, noting that either offence has “the potential to completely destroy his life”.
Passing sentence on Tuesday, Judge Jonathan Dunphy noted that Nekrasovs had himself been a target, was threatened and handed over money before allowing an organised crime group to use his bank account.
In relation to the possession of CSAM charge, the judge said that this is not a victimless crime, but one involving the exploitation of a child and that any morbid curiosity had ended when the material was viewed.
He noted that Nekrasovs made admissions, co-operated with gardaí and accepted responsibility for his offending.
Judge Dunphy said the court did not think the case could be dealt with under section 100 of the Probation Act due to the seriousness of the matter.
He imposed a global sentence of two and a half years, suspended in full on strict conditions for three years. The judge directed Nekrasovs to place himself under probation supervision for three years.
Judge Dunphy also declined an application from the defence to impose reporting restrictions to anonymise the defendant.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help. In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.
