‘Dangerous sexual predator’ jailed after undercover Northumbria Police operation

An online predator who sought out children to carry out sexual fantasies has been jailed.

Christopher Carey has been sentenced to four years behind bars following a series of sexual offences, one of which saw him incite a 13-year-old to engage in a sexual act.

The 43-year-old, of Elmfield Court in Bedlington, was caught as part of an undercover project led by Northumbria Police, with the support of the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU).

Officers posed as underage girls online to monitor Carey's activity as part of the policing operation.

The court heard how the predator used various social media apps and platforms to befriend three girls he believed to be aged between 12 and 13 years old between January 1 and May 28, 2021.

Carey began his campaign of abuse by sharing non-explicit selfies and messages before changing the conversation to sexual topics. He would describe how he wanted to 'kiss and cuddle' his victims and detail his sexual fantasies.

Carey appeared at Newcastle Crown Court on Monday where he was jailed for four years.

He had previously pleaded guilty to inciting a 13-year-old girl to engage in a sexual act, four counts of engaging in sexual communication with a child and two counts of breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order, which had previously been issued in July 2017 at Norwich Crown Court.

Speaking after the sentencing Detective Inspector Rachel Lewis from POLIT said: “We will continue to protect children and young people from harm in any way we can.

“Carey was already the subject of a 10-year court order preventing him from engaging with young people in this way, yet he was completely undeterred by this and continued to offend.

“It is only right he goes to prison so he can no longer pose a threat to children. I hope he spends the remainder of his sentence contemplating his actions, and the serious harm his behaviour causes vulnerable victims.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those involved for ensuring a dangerous sexual offender was brought to justice and such strong evidence presented before the courts, meaning he had no choice but to plead guilty.

“We are determined to protect vulnerable victims from people like Carey and will continue to carry out a range of activity both online and in person, to tackle online child abuse and sexual exploitation.

“We could always encourage anyone who has been a victim of this type of offending to come forward and talk to us, you will be listened to and we will act on your information.”

Detective Inspector Andy Buckthorpe from the NWROCU added: “We welcome the sentencing of Carey this week and hope people feel safer in the knowledge that this sexual predator is now behind bars.

“Protecting children from sexual exploitation is a continued priority of the NWROCU and we will continue to work with our partners to ensure those suspected of being involved in these offences are taken through the courts.”