How ‘smartschoolboy9’ broke the internet: Deeply disturbing material published by a middle-aged man in Britain suspected of being a child predator, as millions try to unmask his true identity

He is clearly a deeply disturbed – not to mention creepy – individual who likes to dress up as a school child and post strange, disturbing and in some cases disgusting videos and images on the internet.

For now, his true identity remains unknown. But there’s no doubt that the chilling case of ‘Smartschoolboy9’ has sent parts of the internet into a collective tailspin.

Online sleuths around the world are frantically trying to track down his real name and precise location, although he is believed to be in South London.

A single YouTube video exploring the case has racked up about 10 million views, while posts on TikTok, Reddit,

The case of Smartschoolboy9 could turn out to be a sick joke – or he could be a child predator in general, flaunting his pedophile preferences.

So why has he attracted such shocked fascination?

According to American YouTuber Nick Crowley – who has 2.6 million subscribers – the origins of this chilling Instagram episode began in 2021 when several accounts were launched one after the other.

The first, ‘truth_sticks_11’, claimed to be run by a 12-year-old boy and his mother. It started with posting photos of a young blond boy, who was in fact an AI creation all along.

“Beautiful boy and account cared for by me, a college-educated mother who chooses to remain anonymous,” the “mother” strangely announced.

The photos started out fairly normal, with a young boy at school.

However, over time they became increasingly strange, with the child’s face digitally distorted to reveal huge pouty lips, complemented by red lipstick and a protruding tongue.

The face turned white, the hair yellowed, the eyes piercing blue. The final image was cartoonish and extremely unnerving.

The photos also became grotesquely suggestive, with some reportedly veering towards child pornography.

Sometimes the boy’s face was digitally shifted onto scantily clad adult bodies, while similarly manipulated images of other children showed them in contorted positions and even tied up.

The creator also seemed to have an obsession with high-heeled mini boots for women, with many of the images featuring children edited to look like they were wearing them.

A second Instagram account, ‘girl.chloe12’, claimed to belong to a 13-year-old who shared the same obsession with high-heeled boots.

Crowley and others have argued that this was classic ‘fetish content’, but terribly targeted at children.

The third account, ‘Smartschoolboy9’, was even more chilling.

It consisted of photos and videos of an overweight man dressed as a hideous caricature of a schoolboy, with much of his face painted white with bright red lipstick, and wearing those same high-heeled mini space boots – an unnerving, lifelike imitation of the AI-generated boy in the first account, albeit with a receding hairline.

He spoke in a disturbingly high-pitched voice and his tongue stuck out almost permanently.

Some videos showed this person ‘in costume’ in the hallway of a terraced house in London, apparently after returning home from school.

Another showed him on a bus supposedly heading to school, and another walking down the street.

Others were even more sinister, which understandably caused particular concern, appearing as if he were chasing a real little boy giggling around a park.

Internet sleuths say they have found evidence that the poster has created at least a dozen similar accounts, all involving fictional children – such as 13-year-old poet ‘Stefanie’ – who post sexually suggestive messages and creepily message each other as they become friends were.

Photos have emerged of the man obscenely dressed as Stefanie, complete with school uniform, wig, skipper and short skirt.

Crowley and many others suspect that the man behind Smartschoolboy9 could be a sexual predator trying to reach real children.

Has he claimed victims yet? Photos of numerous children posted by Smartschoolboy9 do not appear anywhere else on the internet, suggesting he contacted children privately before sharing their photos online, Mr Crowley said.

With photos suggesting he is following real children and footage of him chasing the boy, netizens are determined to unmask the real person and alert authorities.

There are several clues. His posts include frequent shots of specific parts of Streatham, South London. Smartschoolboy9 also repeatedly mentions someone he calls David, leading many to suspect that this is his real name. He also claims he is in his 50s.

New video footage was recently posted on X, apparently filmed by a group of children, claiming to show the south London terraced house where the man lives.

Worryingly, while the children were filming outside, a hand appeared from inside and clung to the front door.

In London, police in Greenwich reportedly circulated a social media message saying a man was “pretending to be a child and engaging with children on social media,” adding: “An investigation is underway, but his intentions are unclear. Stay vigilant and talk to your children about online safety.” The message was later deleted.

The Met confirmed yesterday that it has been made aware of at least one video linked to Smartschoolboy9, which in this case shows the man dressed as a schoolboy walking down a corridor.

It told the Daily Mail in a statement: ‘We are aware that the video has been posted online. Because no crime was committed in the content of the video, we are not investigating anything at this time.”

On Wednesday, respected organization Safer Schools published a warning, saying its “online security team” had received reports of someone posing a “serious risk” and “possibly disguising themselves as a child on social media to communicate with children.” ‘.

It continued: ‘Copycat accounts have emerged and videos on the subject are circulating in some schools. This has caused fear and anxiety among some younger children who have been exposed to this harmful content.”

Some schools are already issuing their own warnings to parents on social media, saying children may be watching SmartSchoolBoy9. A primary school involved in Hertfordshire said the material was ‘highly inappropriate’ and stressed that children should not be watching it.

That is undoubtedly true. But until the individual is definitively exposed, it seems unlikely that the mounting panic will stop.