Monday 23 January 2012
27 year-old UK man sentenced after International collaboration
A 27-year-old man has today (20/1) been sentenced to serve 12 years in prison in connection with a number of child sexual offences.
Timothy Edmonds appeared at Oxford Crown Court for sentencing after admitting to 15 charges relating to child sexual offences on 9 December, 2011.
These charges included four counts of rape of a child under 13, two counts of sexual activity with a child, seven counts of taking indecent images of a child and two counts of distributing indecent images of children.
The charges relate to offences carried out against one child between January 2009 and January 2011.
Edmonds’ arrest was the result of a joint operation between Thames Valley Police’s Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT), the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre and the Danish National High Tech Crime Centre's (NITEC) Proactive Unit.
Danish authorities, working as part of the international victim identification network, located a number of child sexual abuse images online and referred them to the UK's Victim Identification Team at CEOP.
An investigation by CEOP identified the suspect and the exact location of the abuse. Thames Valley Police were then able to launch an investigation and were able to quickly identify Edmonds and his victim, 14 hours after the images were initially uploaded onto the internet.
Det Insp Laura MacInnes said: “I would like to applaud the strength and bravery of the victim in this case. Today’s sentence reflects the serious nature of Edmonds’ offences.
“Edmonds’ prosecution is the result of excellent partnership work carried out by Thames Valley Police, CEOP and the Danish police, to trace Edmonds and his victim.
“I hope that this case and the sentence handed out by the court today illustrates that those who commit this type of offence have nowhere to hide and they will be brought to justice.”
Sentencing Edmonds, the Judge said “This is an excellent example of the good work of CEOP – without this you will still be offending and the child would still be a victim of your depraved activity”.
Andy Baker, Deputy Chief Executive of the CEOP Centre continued: “Today’s sentencing shows how well national and international law enforcement agencies work together to safeguard children and ensure those who seek to exploit and abuse them are held accountable for their actions.
“The close working relationship between CEOP’s Victim Identification Team and our colleagues in Denmark’s National High Tech Crime Centre meant officers from Thames Valley Police were able to locate the victim in the UK, just 14 hours after the abuse images were uploaded to the internet.
“Offenders who think they can share images of child abuse online should think twice – no matter where in the world you or your victims are, we and other law enforcement partners will work tirelessly to ensure you are identified, caught and brought to justice.”
