A Portslade man has been jailed for six years for grooming young girls and getting them to perform sexual acts online.
Dean Thompson, 24, of Hamilton Close, appeared at Lewes Crown Court on Monday (12 January) and was sentenced by Judge Guy Anthony to a total of six years imprisonment for on-line sexual offences against young girls.
He was also given a Sexual Offence Prevention Order (SOPO) for life, severely restricting his access to computers and children, and will be a registered sex offender for life on his release.
Detective Constable Leianne Blampied said; “The offending began to come to light in 2012 when it was reported that Thompson had messaged a 12-year-old local girl asking her to meet him for sex.
“He was arrested but there was insufficient evidence at that time to enable us to pursue a prosecution.
“A further victim then came forward in 2013. With extra information and leads this provided, our investigation confirmed that he had also contacted many other girls and some were as young as 11 years old.
“Most of his contact was through social media – Facebook, Kick and Skype – with some contact by texting, even contacting one girl while on bail.
“This case is a further reminder to young people and those looking after them to be very careful about engaging in personal web contact with anyone you do not know.”
Thompson had admitted three counts of attempting to meet a child under 16 years, two counts of inciting a girl under 16 years to watch something sexual, five counts of inciting five girls under the age of 16 to engage in sexual behaviour and two counts of offering to supply cocaine to two separate girls under 16years.
All the offences had occurred since 2010, and the girls were aged between 11 and 15 years at the time. Most victims were local, with one living outside Sussex.
There was no evidence of any offending by physical contact and Thompson did not meet his victims.
