An NHS executive who used Snapchat to groom and sexually abuse underage girls has been jailed after admitting to a series of serious offences spanning several years.
At Leicester Crown Court this afternoon (November 11), Paul Lipscomb, 51, from Rothley, was sentenced to 28 years in prison after pleading guilty to 34 offences involving the sexual exploitation of six girls aged between 12 and 15 from across the UK. His crimes included two counts of rape, three sexual assaults, and 22 offences of sexual activity or incitement involving a child.
Picture credit: Pukaar News
The court heard that Lipscomb, a former NHS senior manager, used Snapchat and other social media platforms to befriend, groom, and manipulate his victims over a period of several years. He built trust with them online by posing as a caring confidant, often sending gifts or compliments before arranging to meet five of the girls in person.
Once contact was established, Lipscomb coerced and exploited the girls, sometimes threatening to share private messages or images to ensure their silence. Investigators later found hundreds of indecent images and videos stored on his devices, including material he had generated using artificial intelligence (AI).
Detectives revealed that Lipscomb used AI tools to create synthetic child sexual abuse images, combining real photographs with computer-generated content to produce lifelike depictions of underage girls. The court was told that he shared these AI-generated images online, contributing to the growing concern about how emerging technologies are being weaponised by offenders to create new forms of exploitation.
Prosecutors described Lipscomb’s actions as a “pattern of calculated and predatory behaviour,” stressing the deliberate use of encrypted and disappearing-message features on Snapchat to avoid detection. They said he carefully selected vulnerable victims, often those expressing loneliness or low self-esteem online.
Detective Chief Inspector Sarah Bingham, who led the investigation, said after sentencing: ”This was one of the most disturbing and complex cases our digital forensics team has ever handled. Lipscomb exploited technology not just to contact his victims but to continue their abuse virtually. The use of AI in this context marks a deeply worrying development in child exploitation.”
She added that law enforcement agencies are increasingly encountering digitally manipulated abuse material and urged parents and guardians to stay alert to children’s online activity.
Following the sentencing, a spokesperson for the NSPCC condemned both Lipscomb’s actions and the ongoing failure of social media companies to stop such offences from taking place.
“Lipscomb callously targeted and manipulated young girls on Snapchat before abusing them in person and using AI to create and share further child sexual abuse images,” the spokesperson said.
“It’s unacceptable that platforms like Snap are still failing to protect children from harm. Ofcom and the Government must hold tech companies to account and make safety a non-negotiable part of product design.”
The charity has reiterated its call for the Online Safety Act to be fully enforced and for Ofcom to ensure platforms implement real-time detection systems that can identify grooming behaviour and synthetic sexual imagery.
