A "CUNNING" paedophile from Prestwich lured young girls into sending him indecent videos of themselves by offering large amounts of cash for modelling and the promise of a glamorous lifestyle.

Daniel Berry, 31, of Bannerman Avenue, pretended online to be a female casting agent and a male studio owner to exploit the youth and naivety of his 16 victims, aged 12 to 15.

He requested photographs and videos of his targets before he enticed them into explicit poses in exchange for thousands of pounds, Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard.

As Berry's victims became wary of his increasing demands and lack of payment, he threatened to post their videos online and sue them for wasting his time if they did not comply.

Today he was jailed for 10 years and told he must serve two-thirds of the sentence in custody before he can be considered for release by the Parole Board.

Berry, who lived with his parents, was told he poses a high risk of serious harm to the public, especially young girls, and must serve an extended licence period of three years.

Since 2012 he had amassed more than 1,000 video recordings of child abuse, said to be the "most depraved and horrific imaginable".

Between January 2018 and January 2019 he posed as a casting agent in initiating contact with his victims on Facebook.

Berry would then move the conversation on to a mobile messaging app where he would also take the guise of the agent's boss, who was photographed with a Lamborghini car, and promised fame and fortune.

He told some girls they were his "new star" and said he would enter them into a modelling contest in Thailand with a top prize of £250,000.

Another was offered £2 million per year if she continued to send explicit videos. Some of his victims were persuaded to recruit other girls in return for cash.

Berry was arrested last January and made no comment when interviewed, before admitting to 28 counts of causing or inciting children to engage in sexual activity, along with 10 counts of causing a child to watch a sexual act, five counts of distributing indecent images of children and one count of possessing an extreme pornographic image. In addition, he pleaded guilty to four counts of making more than 5,000 indecent images of children, including 1,329 classed as Category A - the most serious.

Mark Shanks, defending, said Berry had had a normal upbringing and had had several relationships with age-appropriate females, but in his early 20s he realised he had thoughts and desires that were "not normal".

He said Berry wanted help and had asked to say to his victims that he was "extremely sorry".

Berry must sign the sex offenders register for life and is also subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.