January 2014

Lache man jailed for inciting online sex activity with a child

A Chester man has been jailed for four years for inciting online sexual activity with a child and taking and possessing indecent  images.

Paul Clifford from Lache was convicted at Manchester Crown Court last week following a nine day trial.

He was sentenced to a total of four years for inciting an 11-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity online, as well as making and possessing a number of indecent images.

The 53-year-old was also made subject of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order and made  to sign the Sex Offenders Register for an indefinite period.

Concern was initially raised to the Metropolitan Police in London by the Social  Networking Site Badoo, after a photograph of a user who was clearly under the age of 18 was discovered.

When they reviewed the chat history, they found chat logs of a sexually explicit nature, during which the girl stated she was 11.

The company reported their findings to police and further inquiries identified Clifford as the user and the investigation was taken over by Cheshire police.

Clifford was arrested in June 2011 and a  number of items including computers were seized to be examined.

More than 200 indecent images were found on two laptops, a large number of which were defined as ‘extreme pornographic’ images.

Detective Constable Yvonne Ouseley said:  “Although we never actually identified and  spoke to the victim in this case, the evidence spoke for itself and it was clear that Clifford had preyed on the vulnerabilities of a young girl.

“I would want to use this case to reinforce the importance of parents being aware of  their children’s use of social media and the internet as they can so easily become involved in conversations with people who will  prey on their innocence.”