Former CFS volunteer Benjamin Darren Falkenberg, from the Barossa, jailed after paying teen girls for nudes on Snapchat

A Barossa Valley man has been jailed for paying teen girls as young as 12 for nude photos, sending them to friends – and blackmailing one over a video.

A young Barossa Valley CFS volunteer relentlessly pursued teen girls as young as 12 over Snapchat for nude images in exchange for money and blackmailed another over a video he sent to a friend, a court heard.

Benjamin Darren Falkenberg, 24, was sentenced in the District Court last month after police found more than 920 images and videos of child exploitation material in his possession.

Falkenberg, a former St Johns Ambulance volunteer, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of communicating to make a child amenable to sexual activity, one count of distributing an invasive image and three counts of possessing child exploitation material.

Falkenberg was sentenced in the District Court in February. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Naomi Jellicoe

During sentencing, Judge Anthony Allen noted Falkenberg “callously” threatened to distribute a video of a 16-year-old girl having sex with her boyfriend if she didn’t give him money.

“You then sent the victim a video of her engaging in sexual intercourse with her boyfriend and asked the victim to give you money to delete the video,” Judge Allen said.

“The victim’s friend told her that he had received a video of her engaging in sexual intercourse. You denied sending the video to the victim’s friend, but stated that you had sent it to one of your friends.

“On January 2, 2021, you sent a message to (a) victim saying: ‘Oi, I sent your nudes around so have fun. You’re gonna be called a slut’.

“This is uncharged conduct, but it does place your deplorable offending in its proper context. The fear and angst suffered by your victim as a consequence of this communication would have been terrible.”

Falkenberg was arrested in 2023 after police received information in 2022 he was communicating with female children and offering them money in exchange for naked photographs.

The court heard he offered his teenage victims anywhere from $10 to $150 for nude material, and on one occasion offered to deliver a vape to one of their schools – but never showed up.

His youngest victim, the court heard, was “either 12 or 13”.

Judge Allen sentenced Falkenberg to five years, 11 months and 27 days with a non-parole period of four years, nine months and 15 days.

“Once communication was established with the victims over Snapchat, you were persistent in asking for naked photographs in exchange for money,” he remarked.

“Some of the victims even blocked you, but you would persist through the creation of different social media accounts.”

The court heard Falkenberg had a mild intellectual impairment, suffered from depression and lived with autism, and was previously in receipt of full-time NDIS support.

However, his counsel conceded there was no “direct nexus” between his cognitive difficulties and the offences, the judge said.

The sentence was backdated to August 3, 2024 – when Falkenberg was taken into custody.

Originally published as Former CFS volunteer Benjamin Darren Falkenberg, from the Barossa, jailed after paying teen girls for nudes on Snapchat