November 2014

Man communicated with undercover detectives while attempting to travel to Kent to sexually abuse a girl

A man who attempted to travel from Somerset to Kent to sexually abuse an eight year-old girl has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

David Collins, 51 years-old, of Highbridge in Somerset, exchanged various messages with two women where he described how he would like to carry out sexual acts on their daughter. He described how he would bring her gifts when he visited and expressed his excitement at the opportunity to carry out sexual acts on the girl.

On the morning of 17 April Collins attempted to hitch-hike his way to Maidstone in Kent to meet the women. However, he sent a text message to one of the women stating that he was having difficulty hitching lifts and had only managed to travel 100 miles in the 17 hours since he had left his house.

Collins was unaware that he had been communicating with undercover police officers, and detectives from Kent Police’s paedophile online investigation team arrested Collins on a slip road of the M4 in Somerset.

In interview Collins claimed that he wouldn’t have actually have gone through with the act, and if the women were really going to let him then he was going to alert the appropriate authorities.

He added that the only type of relationship he wanted to have with the girl was an ‘uncle type relationship’.

Collins was later charged with arranging the commission of a child sexual offence and arranging the involvement in pornography of a child under the age of 13.

Following a trial at Maidstone Crown Court, Collins was found guilty of both offences and on 27 November sentenced to 10 years in prison.

He was also given an extended licence period of two years. A six-year sentence for arranging child abuse images will run concurrently to his 10-year sentence.