A man from north London has been sentenced to four years in prison for arranging to meet with an adult to arrange the sexual abuse of a child.
Mark Pegram, 65, of Enfield, was sentenced today (Wednesday) at Swindon Crown Court after pleading guilty to the commission of a child sex offence and possessing indecent images of a child following an investigation by Wiltshire Police and the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU).
Mark Pegram engaged in explicit conversations online before agreeing and subsequently travelling to meet who he believed would be a child to commit sexual abuse. Pegram travelled to Chippenham on November 13, 2021 where he was met by officers and arrested.
Pegram denied he had any intention of carrying out any sexual acts on the child and went to trial, where he later changed his plea to guilty.
Pegram was sentenced to 48 months in prison, required to register with the police in accordance with the Sexual Offences Act 2003 indefinitely, given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and ordered to pay £156 surcharge.
Detective Constable Kerry Foster said: "This was an extremely distressing case for the jury sitting on this trial. They had to view a large number of messages that contained graphic details about the sexual acts that he planned to carry out on the child when they met.
"The jury also had to listen to recordings that depicted the graphic detail of the sexual acts that he wanted to do with the child.
"Our Child Internet Exploitation Team works with other agencies such as children's social care and health, to minimise the risk to children who may be vulnerable to harm. We would urge anyone who suspects a person of carrying out child sexual exploitation to get in touch with us straight away."
Detective Inspector David Wells, from the Online Investigations Team at SWROCU said: “This is vital work, identifying offenders who use the internet to groom children and, as in this case, attempt to arrange access to a child to abuse. It is our priority to protect and keep children safe in our communities and I encourage anyone worried about exploitation of a child online to report it to the police.”
If you suspect a person of carrying out child sexual exploitation, or think someone you know has been a victim, or may be soon, visit How to report possible child abuse page or call non-emergency number, 101.
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