Teen Masterminds Gay Phone Sex Sting

A 19-year-old from Scotland was caught leading a phone sex sting operation that threatened to report men who had been tricked into talking about sex with minors, unless they paid up.

According to the BBC, Kelz Sutherland of Edinburgh extorted a total of PS87,700 from men all across Britain who used gay and adult chat lines. He was caught when a victim refused to pay and contacted the police.

"While using the chat lines, they were steered into conversations about under-age sex with boys and girls by what appeared to be one person," reports the BBC. "Another person would then interrupt, stating they were a chat line monitor and the conversations would have to be reported to police. An offer was then made that the recordings would be wiped if money was paid into certain bank accounts."

Sutherland pleaded guilty to extortion charges but shouted in court that his victims were pedophiles, the BBC reports.

"These men say they are victims, why did they give me the money in the first place? Why is it me that's sitting here and not them?" asked Sutherland.

Defense attorneys claimed that more people than their client were involved with the sting.