April 2023

Student turned to ‘rape videos and paedophilia’

A pervert was caught by out by an undercover police officer trying to arrange sex acts with a child.

Joshua Wilson, 21, was on bail for various offences involving making and distributing indecent images of children as part of an online forum dedicated to discussing “rape videos and paedophilia” when he was arrested a second time.

Bolton Crown Court heard how the Bolton man had been a university student in Newcastle when his flat was raided on October 27 2020.

Julian King, prosecuting, said: “The defendant also admitted to being a member of a website dedicated to discussing the normalisation of paedophilia and sharing rape videos.”

Mr King told the court how after police discovered that Wilson, then of Trinity Square, High Street, Gateshead, had been found to have been downloading indecent images of children up to October 2020.

Most of the images showed children between the ages of eight and 16 years old.

He had also been involved with several explicit conversations with forum users believed to be underaged.

After his arrest Wilson was interviewed by police officers on March 9 2021 and gave no comment to the questions put to him.

But while on bail, he  again became involved in illicit sexual activity when he began talking on another website with a man he believed to be the father of a six-year-old girl.

In the months over Christmas 2022 Wilson asked this man, known as “Andrew” for explicit pictures of his daughter.

Mr King said: “The defendant said I prefer double digits but could go all ages.”

But “Andrew” was in fact an undercover police officer and Wilson was again arrested on January 23 this year.

He again answered no comment to the questions put to him.

But he pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted sexual communications with a child, one count of attempting to cause a child to watch or look at sexual activity, three counts of attempting to incite a child to sexual activity, three counts of making indecent pictures of children and three counts of distributing indecent pictures of children.

Wilson also pleaded guilty to attempting to arrange or facilitate sexual activity with a child, after his conversations with the undercover officer.

Recorder Michael Maher accepted that Wilson was entitled to credit but said he was disturbed by the 21-year-old’s “warped sexual interest in children.”

Addressing the defendant, he said: “Mr Wilson, you must surely understand by now that these are real children, real flesh and blood children, who’s lives are blighted simply for the purpose of sexual deviance.”

Recorder Maher sentenced Wilson to a total of 40 months in prison, made him subject to a sexual harm prevention order for ten years and a notification requirement for life.