A child sex pest who was brought to justice after an investigation by officers in Cumbria boasted to one of his victims that police would never find out about him.
Timothy Jackson, 46, of London Road, Spalding, was sentenced today at Preston Crown Court for the following offences:
- Four counts of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity
- Three counts of possessing indecent photographs of children
- Three counts of possessing indecent video images of children
- Two counts of sexual communication with a child
- Causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity
Jackson’s offending came to light after police received a report in 2018 of an incident where a child under the age of 10 from south Cumbria had been engaging in online sexual activity with an adult.
Officers identified that the adult was Jackson, who was subsequently arrested. Upon conducting further enquiries, officers discovered Jackson had been engaging online with children across the country. Conversations of a sexual nature and the sharing of indecent images were discovered on devices belonging to Jackson.
Cumbria detectives liaised with police forces and safeguarding agencies across England and Wales to identify further victims. Jackson pleaded guilty to offences committed against seven children. He was jailed for six years and nine months.
Acting Detective Sergeant Rob Hayes, South Cumbria Crime and Safeguarding Team, said: “This was a complex and lengthy cyber investigation involving multiple partner agencies and police forces across England and Wales. We are grateful for the courage and patience of the initial victim and their family while we sought to identify other victims and to the further victims and their families who supported our investigation.
“Jackson boasted to one of his victims that the police would never find out about him, and took steps to evade detection while continuing to groom children as young as eight. His stock phrase was ‘I don’t care what you look like or how old you are’. This investigation shows that Cumbria police take child online safety seriously and we will pursue child sex offenders wherever they live and no matter what measures they take to hide their offending.
“I encourage anyone who has concerns that a child may be a victim of online child sexual exploitation or abuse to contact us. Specialist officers, working together in partnership with support agencies across Cumbria, are here to investigate and bring perpetrators of these horrific crimes before the courts.”
‘Dangerous predator’ jailed for over 6 years for child sex offences