TEENAGER JAILED FOR ONLINE SEXTORTION AND SELF-HARM COERCION
An 18-year-old from Sheffield named Elijah Palmer, who was part of an online sextortion group targeting vulnerable individuals, has been sentenced to four years and nine months in prison.Palmer initially contacted a 15-year-old girl through the gaming platform Roblox and later continued the communication on Discord, persuading her to send progressively more explicit images.
Palmer pleaded guilty to multiple offences, including encouraging sexual activities without consent, promoting self-harm, and obstructing justice.
The group he was involved with, known as the 764 group, was mainly composed of teenage boys and young men who deliberately targeted vulnerable users discussing issues like eating disorders and self-harm on social media.
They gained victims’ trust, then extorted threats, images of self-harm, or sexual content, to maintain control and manipulate them.
In Palmer’s case, he began by establishing a relationship with the girl, ultimately blackmailing her into performing degrading acts to gain recognition within the group.
In May 2025, he created an email in her name to send a bomb threat to her school, using ChatGPT to understand the legal implications, and used this as leverage for blackmail.
Palmer also caused her to cut his name into her chest and send photographs, which a judge described as 'harrowing.' His Discord username, 'Slitted,' referenced self-harm via cutting, indicating his interest in self-injury themes.
He encouraged her to spray paint messages on her bedroom and to send explicit images and videos, including footage of her harming herself.
Palmer also forced her to read a script in a video, claiming he was her 'owner' and desecrating religious beliefs, before destroying the script.
When the girl reported Palmer and blocked him online, he was arrested in June 2025.
After his arrest, he attempted to persuade her to change her police statement, and she stated she was pressured by other online groups as well.
Palmer was charged with encouraging self-harm, causing sexual activity without consent, creating indecent photographs of a child, possessing extreme pornography, and obstructing justice.
He received a prison sentence of nearly five years, along with a four-year extended license.
Additionally, he was subjected to a sexual harm prevention order and a 10-year restraining order protecting the victim.
