‘Dangerous paedophile’, 55, who posed as
teenage boy online jailed for 27 years
A prolific sex offender from Northern Ireland, who posed as a teenage boy on Snapchat and Instagram to trap his child victims, has been sentenced to 27 years in prison.
Police have said it is clear his offending, which involved coercing victims into sending him nude photographs, spread across the UK.
Offences included attempted rape, causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, sexual communication with a child, blackmail, attempting to pay for sexual services of a child, attempting to arrange or facilitate child prostitution or pornography and making and possessing indecent images of children.
Delivering sentence, Judge Geoffrey Miller KC said he would not detail Andrews’ offending in full as it was ‘too harrowing and vile to be repeated’.
He said Andrews had posed as a teenage boy on social media and contacted young girls. His youngest victim was eight.
He judge said: ‘In short form he deceived the children into engaging with him in the mistaken belief he too was a child.
‘Having done this he then cynically and with clear pre-meditation, used threats to inveigle and coerce them to share images of themselves with him.
‘The correspondence instigated by the defendant with each child victim is extremely graphic in content and gives an insight into his depraved thought processes which are deeply troubling.’
The judge added: ‘He made a conscious decision to create the online persona of a teenage boy with the aim of luring his victims into providing him with sexually explicit images for the sole purpose of satisfying his own sexual urges.
‘He then further exploited the victims by distributing the images he had obtained and threatened both they and their friends into providing still more material for his gratification.
‘Each time the circle of victims grew and throughout it all he took care to try to cover his tracks.’
Regarding the direct contact offences against the adult victim, the judge said the abuse included Andrews dressing her up and taking explicit photographs, which he sometimes shared with other victims.
The judge said: ‘The abuse he committed against her over several years displays a depravity that is difficult to comprehend and which is utterly sickening.’
PSNI Detective Chief Inspector Jill Duffie said the investigation into Andrews began following a report from Derbyshire Police that a number of underage girls had been groomed online by a man believed to be residing in Northern Ireland using the alias of a 13-year-old boy.
She said: ‘On the same day, detectives from our Public Protection Branch identified the home address of 55-year-old David Andrews in Belfast, arrested him and seized a number of electronic devices for forensic examination.
‘Andrews was then interviewed and later charged with a number of child sexual abuse offences, and has been remanded in prison ever since.’
She added: ‘Following his initial interview with police, it became clear that David Andrews’ offending spanned right across the United Kingdom.
‘He used the same behaviour pattern every time to groom young girls via Snapchat and Instagram into believing they were in a relationship with a young boy of a similar age.
‘He would then encourage them to send indecent images of themselves, later using these images to threaten, blackmail and abuse them.’
The head of the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) Serious Unit Catherine Kierans said: ‘Andrews is a dangerous and devious paedophile who abused young children and teenagers online.
‘Using the ‘catfish’ method, he pretended to be a teenage boy aged 13 or 14 to target young girls on social media, manipulating and grooming his victims to gain their trust and affection.
‘Still pretending to be a young boy, he demanded sexual images and videos from the girls, also sending indecent material to them and recording the abuse.
‘When a girl refused to comply or became suspicious of him, he would become abusive or threaten to send her intimate pictures to her friends or share them on the internet.
‘Andrews carried through on some of his vile threats to send explicit images to his victim’s contacts. On some occasions, he threatened the girls with violence.’
She added: ‘Andrews cowardly exploited the vulnerable. The children he targeted online were understandably deceived by the calculating methods of a practiced and callous sex offender.
‘His actions caused great fear, distress and trauma to the victims, some of whom bravely raised the alarm, ultimately leading to the outcome today.’
There is no reason this monster should ever see the light of day again. If he does, someone will have blood on their hands. 13.5 years is not enough. He should serve the full 27 years.
Sheriff's Office asking for help in Walla Walla sex crimes investigation
These charges are related to incidents that occurred multiple years ago, according to a news release from WWCSO.
WWCSO believes that Sutherland may have more victims who have yet to be identified.
Houston Man Ran Website on Dark Web showing Child Molestation and Abuse; Sentenced after Feds Busted His Crimes
Houston, TX– A man from Houston has received a 30-year prison sentence after admitting to the sexual exploitation of a 9-year-old and serving as an administrator for a dark web site featuring child sex abuse materials, according to federal authorities.
On Thursday, Robert Alexander Shouse, 37, received a sentence for the production and possession of “child sexual abuse material (CSAM),” as stated in a release from the Justice Department. In June, Shouse entered a guilty plea on multiple charges, including two counts related to the sexual exploitation of minors, one count of attempted exploitation, and one count concerning the possession of child pornography, as reported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.
In 2018, law enforcement officials began to take notice of Shouse after he was identified as an administrator for a CSAM website operating on the dark web, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The release stated that the identities of users on this website were maintained in secrecy.
The Justice Department stated that Shouse “managed the website that enabled users to share links to images and videos of CSAM.” According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the links provided access to various websites, including file-hosting platforms that contain downloadable images and videos related to child sex abuse.
In 2019, federal authorities took action to seize and shut down the website’s operations, according to the release.
In January 2019, a search warrant was executed at Shouse’s residence, leading to the recovery of several electronic devices that held more than 117,000 images and over 1,100 videos depicting child sex abuse, as reported by the Justice Department. The U.S. Attorney’s Office reported that more than 4,000 images depicted the sexual abuse of infants and young children.
Authorities discovered images and videos involving seven underage victims with whom Shouse had a personal connection, as stated in the release.
Authorities discovered that Shouse had been sexually abusing one of the victims for a duration of six years, starting when the victim was just nine years old, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In a calculated move to gain the victim’s confidence, Shouse formed a friendship with the child and provided financial support and presents to their family, according to the Justice Department. Shouse produced more than 925 images and 33 videos depicting the victim in a state of sexual abuse, with some of the disturbing photographs featuring the child adorned with a dog collar, as stated in the release.
No comments:
Post a Comment