"Steadman, of Islington, north London, has been been charged with one count of blackmail in relation to alleged unwarranted demands for the contact telephone numbers of up to 12 individuals. He has also been charged with a communications offence of improper use of a public electronic communications network, in relation to the same victim. Steadman also faces four further communications offence charges over the improper use of a public electronic communications network, in relation to four other victims. This relates to the sending of alleged unsolicited indecent images."
"Then-senior Conservative MP William Wragg resigned the party whip in April 2024 after he admitted giving politicians' phone numbers to a suspected scammer he met on a dating app. The scammer was said to have used the aliases "Charlie" and "Abi" while sending flirtatious messages to attempt to coax MPs and other figures in political circles into sending explicit pictures."
"We have decided to prosecute Oliver Steadman with blackmail and five communications offences in relation to a total of five victims working within politics and Westminster. This follows an investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service which looked into messages that included alleged unsolicited indecent images sent to a number of people within parliamentary political circles between October 2023 and April 2024 using WhatsApp."
Oliver Steadman, 28, of Islington faces one count of blackmail and five communications offence charges linked to five victims within politics and Westminster. The blackmail allegation concerns alleged unwarranted demands for the contact telephone numbers of up to 12 individuals. The communications charges allege improper use of a public electronic communications network and relate to the sending of alleged unsolicited indecent images. The messages were reportedly sent via WhatsApp between October 2023 and April 2024. A then-senior Conservative MP resigned the party whip after admitting to passing phone numbers to a suspected scammer who used aliases to coax explicit pictures. The Crown Prosecution Service has authorised prosecution.
Read at Irish Independent
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