‘X Factor’ Star Danny Tetley Behind Bars After Admitting To Sexually Exploiting Teens
ITV YouTube/ West Yorkshire Police/PA Reading Time: 3 minutes
Danny Tetley auditioned for The X Factor UK in 2018 hoping that the show would change his life. The singer came on the show with the motto “life’s too short, live every day with a smile on your face.” Now he is in jail for sexually exploiting seven teenage boys.
Check out the What’s Hot Video below that talks about seven talent shows contestants that went to prison. Some big names have spent time behind bars after their time on talent shows.
Danny Tetley Sexually Exploited 7 Boys After ‘X Factor’ Success
Before coming on to The X Factor, Tetley was known for making it to the Top 50 on the show Pop Idol. He was born with a cleft palate but dreamed of becoming a singer. He impressed the judges on The X Factor and made it to the Semi-Finals before he was eliminated from the competition in sixth place.
But while he competed on the show, Tetley was engaging in illegal activity. From October 2018 to August 2019 he was paying seven teenage boys to send him inappropriate photos. Their ages ranged from 14 to 16. It was the parents of one of the boys that realized this was going on after they saw Tetley’s messages on WhatsApp.
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“He’s a monster. We’ve cried so much that our tears have dried up. My son is innocent. He feels ashamed. He’s been suicidal” the mother of the 14-year-old victim told The Sun. Tetley groomed the boy at night while his parents were sleeping.
How Long Is Tetley Going To Be In Prison For?
Tetley, 39, admitted to seven counts of sexually exploiting boys and two counts of distributing indecent images. There were over 10,000 inappropriate messages uncovered between Tetley and the boys. This includes nude photos of both him and the boys and photos of his ‘X Factor’ castmates. One boy was offered £1,000 to send a picture of his privates.
“Those in the public eye have a deep responsibility which many you see exercise magnificently, with additional work for society,” Judge Durham Hall told Tetley when he appeared in court in 2020. “Many will see you, I’m afraid, for what you are, to some extent: a despicable creature with very few redeeming features.”
Prior to the sentencing, Tetley told reporters that he was being set up. “This kind of thing has gone on for ages because people don’t like to see me do well,” he said at the time of his arrest. “I’ve never handled the fame very well. I haven’t worked this hard just for me to be slaughtered.”
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Tetley was sentenced to 9 years in prison and an additional 8 years of being monitored once he is released. After a successful appeal, the sentence has been reduced to 14 years, 9 of which will still be served behind bars.
