The Police Online Investigation Team (POLIT) has obtained a 13-year prison sentence for a Canvey Paedophile, David Crookes.
An officer regarded David Crookes’ offences as among the most graphic encountered throughout their tenure on POLIT.
Essex Police obtained intelligence indicating that the 66-year-old man had been orchestrating the sexual exploitation of minors throughout the 2010s and commenced efforts to identify David Crookes.
In 2022, while attempting to exit the country, David Crookes was apprehended by Dyfed-Powys Police, who confiscated his electronics during the detention.
We examined the contents of these devices, revealing a comprehensive history of messages and transactions associated with the offences, along with over 580 photographs and videos of severe pornography and child sexual assault.
David Crookes, of Link Road, in Canvey, was charged with:
- Two counts of making indecent images of children
- Two counts of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence
- Making indecent images of a child
- Attempting to arrange or facilitate the commission of a child sex offence
- Possessing an extreme pornographic image
- Distributing indecent images of a child
- Causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a child
- Causing a child to watch a sexual act
- Causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage with sexual activity
David Crookes pleaded guilty to all offences and was sentenced to 13 years and nine months at Basildon Crown Court on Monday 1 September.
He was also given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and following his sentence he will spend another five years on extended licence.
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