A teenage boy described as "top of the pyramid" in an extortion ring that targeted gay men on dating apps has pleaded guilty.
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The boy, 16, was among four males arrested when police dismantled the alleged syndicate accused of threatening to publicly "out" men, who they lured through apps including Grindr, as paedophiles if they didn't hand over mobile phones or cash.
The teen, who is in custody, pleaded guilty to two counts of blackmail and one charge of possessing a prohibited substance in the ACT Children's Court on Tuesday.
His Legal Aid defence lawyer said there was still some dispute over the facts of the offences that would need to be resolved before the boy was sentenced.
Police said, during an earlier court appearance, the boy was a principal offender in four or five of the seven alleged blackmail incidents reported to police.
"If there was someone I was to say sat at the top of the pyramid in this investigation that would be the individual," First Constable Steven Luxmoore said.
The court heard the teenager was responsible for collating dossiers on victims. Those were handed to the men when they met up and included records of social media conversations and potential criminal offences the boys claimed had been committed.
There were also allegedly videos that showed the accused confronting victims and telling them the way to stop the information in the reports being revealed publicly was to hand over their mobile phones or go to an ATM and withdraw up to $1000.
The boy allegedly told friends he was "targeting paedos" as his father "may have experienced something similar when he was younger".
Police previously said some members of the group were linked to the suicide of one of the male victims of the scam in NSW last month.
Officers allegedly found text and online messages exchanged with the man who died by suicide that showed the boy had discussed meeting him at Mawson shops and was allegedly among a group who visited his house the night before he died.
The court heard the alleged victim's phone had been active after his death and the accused had advertised that same model of mobile phone for sale on Gumtree soon after.
He will return to court on March 21.
