Birmingham Dad's Horror as TikTok Friend Request Targets 8-Year-Old Daughter
A Birmingham father experienced a terrifying ordeal after his eight-year-old daughter received a mysterious friend request on the popular social media platform TikTok. The concerned dad immediately instructed his child not to accept the request, but his suspicions were heightened when she later came downstairs asking for a pen to write down her phone number, as detailed in court proceedings.
Disturbing Messages Uncovered
Alarmed by his daughter's unusual behavior, the father demanded to see her mobile phone. To his horror, he discovered she had been receiving messages from an individual claiming to be an eight-year-old boy. The messages contained explicit sexual content, including discussions about having sex with the young girl.
Posing as his daughter, the father continued the text exchange, which quickly moved from TikTok to the messaging app WhatsApp. The situation escalated when the perpetrator, later identified as 33-year-old Thomas Butler from Cherry Orchard Road in Handsworth, asked for intimate photographs of the child and ultimately sent an unsolicited image of his own penis.
Swift Police Action and Arrest
Butler was arrested several months later by police officers investigating the case. He subsequently admitted to multiple serious offences, including having sexual communications with a child, attempted sexual communication with a child, and attempting to engage a child in sexual activity.
On Wednesday, March 11, 2026, Butler appeared at Birmingham Crown Court where he was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison. This marked a rapid downfall for the predatory offender, who had targeted the young girl on March 10, 2025.
Courtroom Revelations
Prosecutor Giles Pengelly revealed in court that the eight-year-old girl had accepted the friend request against her father's explicit instructions because she was attempting to unlock a feature on TikTok that required her to have 200 friends. Butler had initiated contact by telling her "you love me you want to kiss me" while falsely claiming to be eight years old.
The young girl had initially claimed to be 13 years old before her father intervened and took over the conversation. The disturbing messages included statements such as "you want to have sex with me when you're older" and "are you naughty."
As the communication transitioned to WhatsApp, Butler's messages became increasingly inappropriate. He asked the girl to lift her top up, inquired if she liked older boys, questioned her about her school uniform, and claimed he had been with girls her age previously. The exchange culminated in him sending the explicit photograph of himself.
Defense and Sentencing
Defense counsel Justin Jarmola told the court that Butler's offending occurred while he was struggling with a significant and overbearing alcohol problem. Jarmola noted that this was no longer an issue since Butler had been remanded in custody for an extended period and emphasized that Butler had no relevant or recent prior convictions.
Passing sentence, Recorder Andrew McLoughlin described Butler's actions as a "depraved approach to your sexual appetite" and told the defendant: "There was nothing to suggest you were going to stop doing what you were intending to do."
This case serves as a stark reminder to parents about the potential dangers children face on social media platforms and the importance of vigilant supervision of their online activities.
