A 24-year-old OnlyFans mum has pleaded guilty after scamming men she met on Facebook out of £35,000, Liverpool Crown Court heard. Leigh Dennis had been charged with two counts of fraud by false representation, and possession of extreme pornographic images, as the court heard that she conned one man out of more than £30,000 of his inheritance money.
Detailing Dennis’s crimes, Rebecca Smith, prosecuting, said the mum used social media sites to commit “romance fraud”. Between January and June 2021, she scammed Colt Candeias out of £33,672 and Aaron Carroll out of £1,940 between January and July 2021.
Ms Smith also told the court how Dennis started talking with Mr Candeias – who has Autism Spectrum Disorder and difficulties with communication – on Facebook dating. She revealed that Dennis later asked him to subscribe to her OnlyFans account, Liverpool Echo reports.
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Ms Smith said Dennis’ fraudulent actions began with her asking Mr Candeias to send food orders to her address in Wallasey. She told the court how Dennis would give a variety of reasons for needing the money – such as for council tax, to buy goods for a friend from Argos, help with rent or that she was having suicidal thoughts.
Soon, Dennis began receiving electrical items – including nine iPhones and a new washing machine – and eventually she convinced Mr Candeias into sending sums of money to other people. The then-22-year-old also duped Mr Candeias into giving over £5,000 to a man who Dennis informed him was her landlord.
The money Mr Candeias gave to Dennis was that of his inheritance, which he had received following the death of his mother. Despite efforts in trying to arrange to meet up with Dennis in real life, the pair never did.
Mr Candeias soon raised a red flag and became suspicious of fraud and launched an investigation before getting the police involved. After a search was conducted at Dennis’ address, a number of items that had been purchased by Mr Candeias were found, including the washing machine.
A search through Mr Candeias’ phone also found several Snapchat messages from Dennis requesting money. Police also carried out a search into Dennis’ phone, which pulled up messages between her and a third party.
The messages related to her receiving money in return for engaging in sexual activity with a dog. Eleven extreme pornographic images were recovered showing her undertaking that activity.
The court also heard of a second victim, Mr Carroll, who Dennis matched with on Facebook dating and later subscribed to her OnlyFans. Ms Smith said: “Dennis said it would cost £50 to meet up, which Mr Carroll sent. They spoke on WhatsApp to organise the meeting, which didn’t take place, and after Dennis asked for more money so that she could have a threesome.”
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Soon enough, Dennis would begin requesting food, utilities from Mr Carroll – as well as a condolence gift for her grandmother following the death of her grandfather. She also asked for money to be sent to others on top of orders from Argos.
Ms Smith told the court that whenever Mr Carroll would ask for repayments, Dennis would either ignore him, claim online banking was not working, or say she had not been paid. In July 2021, Mr Carroll told Dennis he refused to send her any more money.
However, Dennis then went on to tell him that her water had been cut off and how she was “on the verge of suicide”. Similarly to Mr Candeias, the pair had never met up in real life and Mr Carroll did not report Dennis’ actions to the police as he believed he could get the money back.
On July 22, 2022, Dennis was interviewed by police, where she claimed gifts she had been given by Mr Candeias were unprompted, and all of the nine iPhones were for her because she kept breaking them. Dennis also stated she did not take advantage of Candeias, adding how at first, the interactions were “mutually beneficial”. However, she couldn’t explain how, before admitting there was no benefit.
On November 5, 2022, Dennis was interviewed again. She told police that she always had intentions to meet up with Mr Candeias and to pay him back. Meanwhile, she denied having any knowledge of Mr Carroll and said that she didn’t remember him because she spoke to lots of people.
Andrew McInnes, defending, said Dennis moved back to the Wirral from London where she had lived for a short time, when she began to engage in drugs. She joined various social media channels to date people, but then discovered she could make money through Only Fans. Mr McInnes said Dennis originally received gifts and money, but “matters clearly snowballed”.
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He said: “She clearly engaged in risk taking behaviour without the thought of consequences for others or herself. She was always likely to be caught, and made no attempt to hide who she was.”
Mr McInnes said she did intend to meet Mr Candeias but then it became fraudulent, and she had no idea he was vulnerable or that he was autistic as it did not appear in the messages between the two. Mr McInnes said Dennis has shown genuine remorse for what she has done, and is focussed on being a good mum to her child.
At this point in proceedings, His Honour Judge Brian Cummings KC interjected and said he was “bothered by the chronology”, as the baby would have been conceived after Dennis had been interviewed and was under investigation. Mr McInnes responded: “She was just very keen to have a child and would say it has nothing to do with these proceedings.
“Two years ago she never believed she would act the way that she did, she has put the victims and her family through a significant ordeal.” In sentencing, Judge Cummings KC said the offending had “serious detrimental effects” on a “particularly vulnerable” victim.
He said: “I am bothered by the chronology both by the fact that this child was conceived after you had been interviewed by the police at the time, in relation to these offences.” He said he knew that the bank had refunded £13,000 to Mr Candeias, but that still left him out of pocket to the tune of £20,000.
Judge Cummings added: “I accept that there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation, and as serious as these offences are, you are still a young woman, so nobody is writing you off. It is extremely regrettable that immediate custody will have a harmful effect on your baby, but there is nothing I can do about that, this is a consequence of your actions.”
Dennis, of Palatine Road, Wallasey, was sentenced to 19 months imprisonment, and a restraining order barring her from contacting Mr Candeias for five years was implemented.
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