Snapchat paedophile jailed for 15 years after he posed as 25-year-old and paid girls £60 to rape them

Published 3 November 2026, 15:41

• Detective Constable Sean Hobbs called Gateshead decorator Paul Black, 36, 'a predator' who used Snapchat to groom young girls.
• Black raped the 13-year-old three times and her 14-year-old friend five times on an industrial estate, then called them degrading names.
• He already had cautions for exposing himself to a woman, threatening to publish indecent images of a 16-year-old and groping a jogger.

A painter and decorator who posed as a 25-year-old man called James on Snapchat to groom and rape two teenage girls has been jailed for 15 years.

Paul Black, 36, of Wordsworth Crescent, Gateshead, was sentenced at Teesside Crown Court on 3 November after pleading guilty to 28 offences, including eight counts of rape.

He will serve a further three years on extended licence, is placed on the sex offenders register for life, subject to an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order, and banned from contacting his victims for 10 years.

Black made contact with a 13-year-old girl on Snapchat in January 2026.

Despite being told her age, he wasted no time setting up a payment arrangement for sex, prosecutor Shaun Dodds informed the court.

Posing as a 25-year-old called James, he collected her in his car and took her to a Teesside industrial estate, where he raped her, subjected her to degrading verbal abuse and gave her cash, according to the Cleveland Police report.

Between March and July 2026, Black drove from Gateshead to various locations across Teesside to meet the girls, spending up to an hour with them each time.

He raped the 13-year-old three times and her 14-year-old friend five times, paying each girl between £60 and £100 in cash on every occasion.

Both girls told the court he was "very pushy" and repeatedly ignored their requests to stop.

The 28 offences Black admitted included three counts of making indecent photographs of children, four counts of sexual assault, four counts of paying for sexual services of a child, five counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, two counts of meeting a child following sexual grooming, one count of engaging in sexual communication with a child, and one count of assault by penetration.

The case came to light when one of the girls was found with a large amount of cash and confided in an adult, who reported it to police.

Although Black had given the girls a false name and used a pseudonym on Snapchat, officers identified and arrested him.

He was subsequently charged after questioning in custody.

Black had a history of sexual offending.

Three separate incidents marked his offending history: a female stranger was subjected to indecent exposure by him in 2005; a 16-year-old girl he had encountered on social media was threatened in 2008 with the publication of indecent images of her; and a woman jogging past him had her buttocks grabbed by him in 2014.

Detective Constable Sean Hobbs, from Cleveland Police's Protecting Vulnerable People team, said: "Black is a predator who has used Snapchat to groom young girls solely for his own sexual gratification. He would entice the children to meet him by promising to give them large amounts of money. He then abused them sexually through demanding threats and violence causing fear."

DC Hobbs said it had "understandably been distressing for the girls to relive what Black had done to them," but praised their courage, adding that it "went a long way to ensure Black has no choice but to admit to what he has done."

He said he hoped the outcome would give the girls "some reassurance that they were both listened to, supported and that Black has now been held accountable for his actions."

Anyone affected can contact Teesside Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) at any time on 03333448283, or report to Cleveland Police on 101.

Crimestoppers can be reached anonymously on 0800 555 111.