Cadet leader posed as girl on Snapchat, court told

Army cadets who thought they were sharing nude photos with a teenage girl on the messaging app Snapchat were in fact communicating with their instructor, a court has heard.

Rylan Ray, who was a detachment commander for the youth organisation in Cambridgeshire, is on trial accused of 25 sexual offences – many involving children – which he denies.

A jury at Ipswich Crown Court has heard how a Snapchat account purporting to belong to a teenage girl called Chelsea had been linked to the 26 year old from Westgate, Peterborough.

A boy, who was 16 when he was contacted by Chelsea, said the account sent him videos of a female involved in a sex act and that he returned similar videos of himself.

In a police interview played to the jury, the boy said he was "surprised" when the person he was talking to asked for nude photos of him.

Another alleged victim told police Chelsea had added him as a Snapchat contact when he was 14.

"I added her back; we started talking, she sent pictures of herself. It was a girl. She said she lived locally in Peterborough," he said.

He said he could not remember who instigated turning the conversation sexual, but that the messages from Chelsea became "very constant".

The teenager said he became suspicious when he noticed Chelsea would send the same two or three videos on separate occasions, and eventually he blocked the account.

Speaking of Ray as a cadet leader, he said: "He was very strict with safeguarding rules because he was one of the safeguarding officers."

The court previously heard how the IP address linked to Chelsea's Snapchat account was traced back to Ray's home address, and that her profile image had been found on Ray's mobile phone.

Claire Matthews, prosecuting, told the jury videos of both boys involved in a sex act had been found on Ray's devices.

Another complainant told police he had started speaking with Ray on Snapchat when he was either 14 or 15 and that he had felt pressured to send inappropriate photos.

"He was just asking me to see a picture of my penis and he kept going on and on and on and on about it all the time, so I just sent it," he said in an interview played to the court.

He said as well as communicating with Ray directly, he had also been contacted by a Snapchat user called CJ, who he believed was Ray.

Rhodri James, defending, suggested Ray had never asked the teenager for sexual photographs.

"He did," the boy responded.

The charges against Ray include one count of rape, four of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, and three of making indecent images of children.

The offending is said to have happened over a six-year period and involves 11 male complainants, many of whom were cadets.

Ray, who denies the charges, is a former Peterborough city councillor and previously held roles at two schools in the city.

The trial continues.

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