'Jekyll and Hyde' London man gets nine years for online child luring
Michael McIndoo used fake persona to trick three minors in London, Oregon, and Australia to send him intimate photos.
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In real life, his name is Michael McIndoo.
But online, the 39-year-old Londoner identified himself as Ryan Frost, a good-looking, friendly 16-year-old boy.
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McIndoo used the fake persona to trick three minors in London, Oregon, and Australia to send him intimate photos in what Superior Court Justice Spencer Nicholson described as “ongoing, carefully orchestrated, deliberately deceptive conduct to exploit children.”
On Friday, Nicholson sentenced McIndoo, who in 2015 was convicted of child luring, to more than nine years in prison after he was found guilty on March 4 of three counts of child luring; one count of making child pornography; one count of possessing child pornography; one count of extortion; and three counts of failing to comply with a prohibition order.
Details of when the offences occurred were not disclosed during sentencing, and court records were not immediately available.
But Nicholson did detail how McIndoo used his fake profile to convince and sometimes coerce the minors, aged 11, 13 and 15, to send him photos and videos of themselves, including some of them naked and others while defecating.
“Mr. McIndoo’s cruelty is evident in his ability to be sweet and loving when required and downright menacing when required,” he said.
One of the victims, whose identity is protected under a court order, said her experience marked her life, making her distrustful of men who approach her and leaving her to deal with depression, poor self-esteem and addiction.
“I am still discovering all the ways that the abuse, manipulation and how I was brainwashed by him have taken a toll on my life,” said the now 21-year-old woman from Australia when she read her impact statement back in May.
His actions have “set my life on the wrong course,” she said.
“I strongly feel that my teenage years were stolen by this greedy, heartless person,” the woman said.
When determining McIndoo’s sentence, which includes a life ban on using the internet, Nicholson noted McIndoo’s apparent lack of remorse for his actions.
“While I rarely believe that an offender is beyond rehabilitation, given the lack of acknowledgement of wrongdoing, I have little confidence that Mr. McIndoo will take the necessary steps to halt his predatory behaviours,” he said.
He also pointed out McIndoo’s previous 2015 conviction for child luring, for which he served 12 months in prison, and which Nicholson described as “remarkably similar to the offences for which I have convicted him.”
“Throughout this process, you have frankly presented as a co-operative and pleasant man. I suspect many people know you in that way,” Nicholson said to McIndoo.
“However, I’ve been convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that you have a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde inside you that compels you to commit these offences for your own sexual gratification.
“Mr. McIndoo, I urge you to get whatever help is available to you over the next few years; quite clearly, you are in need of help,” Nicholson said.
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