A man who made images of himself sexually assaulting a young girl and then distributed them online has been jailed.
Gareth Vickers, 45, from Wigan, was identified by National Crime Agency investigators after the FBI monitored his sexually explicit conversations on the Kik online chat platform.
Chat logs showed that Vickers, using the online pseudonym ‘daddyv230304’, shared photos of the girl in knickers and a training bra and said that he was sexually aroused.
The images he shared became increasingly explicit and ended with some showing him exposing the girl’s genitals.
Vickers was arrested by NCA officers at his home address in April last year, after which he said “I was at my lowest.
Forensic examination of his devices showed he’d searched the internet for teen porn terms and had used TOR, which allows anonymous browsing and access to the dark web. He had also searched for instructions on how to clear his browsing history.
Officers linked an email address he used on a food takeaway app with the offending Kik account.
Vickers’ hands were photographed and forensic examination matched these with the hands seen in the indecent images.
The child he abused has been safeguarded and both her and her family have received ongoing support.
Vickers pleaded guilty to assault of a girl under 13 by touching and taking and distributing indecent images of children offences at Bolton Crown Court in December last year, having denied the charges at a previous hearing.
He was sentenced to four-and-a-half years imprisonment at the same court today (24 January), given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.
NCA operations manager Phil Eccles said:
A young girl was callously abused and had her privacy violated, all for the sexual pleasure of Gareth Vickers and for the benefit of other online users with a sexual interest in children.
“Child sexual abuse is a global threat and this case highlights why the NCA’s close cooperation with international partners is so vital to protecting children.
We work tirelessly to identify those posing the greatest risk to children and ensure offenders are brought to account.
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