A football coach who sexually abused boys after grooming them through online gaming and relentless messages has been jailed for 15 years and 10 months.
Alfie Morel, 24, from Hampshire, was found guilty of eight offences in January, including attempted rape.
A school of one of the victims and the FA both raised concerns about Morel not following safeguarding rules and travelling with boys in his car alone.
A victim's mother told the BBC it was "your worst nightmare as a parent".
Another parent said: "He was highly thought of. Everyone liked him, everyone trusted him, we thought he was great with the kids. We were totally groomed by him."
The crimes - carried out over eight months in 2020 and 2021 - came to light when one of the victims, who was 12 at the time, told his mother Morel had sent him sexual messages.
The boy revealed the coach had committed a sex act in front of him, sexually assaulted him and bribed him to perform sex acts on him in exchange for money or Fifa football video games points.
The court also heard Morel would share images with his victims on Instagram, before moving the conversations to Snapchat, allowing him to "delete compromising messages".
Prosecutors said he had targeted boys who were "vulnerable and insecure" and had divulged personal information about his own mental health to gain leverage. He carried out abuse in the victims' homes and in his car.
At one point during the sentencing hearing at Portsmouth Crown Court, the judge told Morel to "stop smirking".
Alfie Morel, 24, from Hampshire, was found guilty of eight offences in January, including attempted rape.
A school of one of the victims and the FA both raised concerns about Morel not following safeguarding rules and travelling with boys in his car alone.
A victim's mother told the BBC it was "your worst nightmare as a parent".
Another parent said: "He was highly thought of. Everyone liked him, everyone trusted him, we thought he was great with the kids. We were totally groomed by him."
The crimes - carried out over eight months in 2020 and 2021 - came to light when one of the victims, who was 12 at the time, told his mother Morel had sent him sexual messages.
The boy revealed the coach had committed a sex act in front of him, sexually assaulted him and bribed him to perform sex acts on him in exchange for money or Fifa football video games points.
The court also heard Morel would share images with his victims on Instagram, before moving the conversations to Snapchat, allowing him to "delete compromising messages".
Prosecutors said he had targeted boys who were "vulnerable and insecure" and had divulged personal information about his own mental health to gain leverage. He carried out abuse in the victims' homes and in his car.
At one point during the sentencing hearing at Portsmouth Crown Court, the judge told Morel to "stop smirking".
