Paedophile rapper filmed himself having sex with schoolgirls he groomed on Facebook and Instagram

The unsigned rapper released a hip hop album in 2011 featuring songs titled ‘Pleasing my feelings’, ‘I was wrong', and ‘Enter the darkness’

Katie Forster
Friday 29 July 2016 18:11 BST
Daniel Rodriguez, also known as Grymey D, in one of his music videos
Daniel Rodriguez, also known as Grymey D, in one of his music videos (Youtube screengrab)

A 28-year-old rapper has been jailed for 16 years for grooming schoolgirls on social media and filming himself having sex with them.

Daniel Rodriguez from Hackney in north east London, who calls himself Grymey D, used Instagram, Facebook and Blackberry Messenger to contact girls aged around 13 to 15 and invite them to his home.

In court, Judge Joanna Greenberg QC said there were seven victims and Mr Rodriguez had deliberately targeted “vulnerable and impressionable” young girls in order to carry out his “deviant sexual fantasies.”

Videos found on devices in his bedroom at his parents' house showed Mr Rodriguez engaging in sex with young girls – in one case with a 14-year-old who had arrived at his house wearing her school uniform.

The unsigned rapper released a hip hop album in 2011 called Dark Philosophies, featuring songs titled "Pleasing my feelings", "I was wrong", "Enter the darkness" and "Misunderstood".

Prosecutor Edward Lucas said Mr Rodriguez had used his "experience, charm and his guile and ultimately his force – his force of personality – to indulge in his own perverted activities."

Daniel Rodriguez has been sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment (Metropolitan Police)

Many victims of crimes like these “feel a life-long degradation and shame,” said Judge Greenberg.

“You do present a significant risk of causing serious psychological harm to young girls,” she told Mr Rodriguez, adding: “Your expressions of remorse ring hollow.”

After his arrest on 27 August last year, officers seized and searched his phone, Blackberry and several USB drives, and found videos of Mr Rodriguez having sex with four of the victims – three aged 14, and one aged 15.

He groomed the young girls by complimenting their appearance on social media, telling them he loved them and inviting them to his home before regularly having sex with them.

One of Mr Rodriguez’s victims told detectives investigating the case he had first contacted her on Instagram when she was 13, and she was 14 when she visited his home.

He had engaged in sexual activity with her on her second visit, she said. On one occasion, she went to Mr Rodriguez’s house with a friend, also 14, and he engaged in sexual activity with both of them.

Judge Greenberg sentenced Mr Rodriguez to five counts of sexual activity with a child, five counts of making indecent photographs, one count of sexual assault, one count of attempting to coerce a girl to engage in sexual activity, and three counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity – 15 in total.

“You cannot have failed to be aware just how seriously the sexual exploitation of children is dealt with,” she said.

Defence lawyer Charles Evans said Mr Rodriguez “certainly did not appreciate the gravity of what he was doing” and was “absolutely stunned” when he learnt of the seriousness of the offences.

Judge Greenberg said “he must be blind and living as a hermit” to have missed news of similar cases involving high-profile celebrities and that he may just have been unable to help himself.

And Detective Constable Jon Knox, who worked on the case, said there may be other girls who do not realise that they are a victim of this man.

"If you believe that you have been contacted by Rodriguez, I would urge you to speak to police," he said in a statement.

Additional reporting by Press Association

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