A PAEDOPHILE who posed as a young girl online was found with 550 child abuse images.

Officers from the Essex Police Online Investigation Team (POLIT) raided the address of Scott Chapman in Hume Close, Tilbury back on December 4, 2019.

The team, which investigates online child abuse, had received intelligence that the internet at the address had been used to view indecent images of children.

Following searches there and at another address, officers seized a mobile phone which could be attributed to Chapman on which they found more than 550 indecent images of children.

They also found several social media applications on which Chapman had posed as a young girl or sent indecent images to others.

The 24-year-old was charged with three counts of making indecent images of children and three counts of distributing indecent images of children.

He admitted the offences and at Basildon Crown Court and was jailed for seven years.

READ MORE:

Investigating officer PC Emma Edwards said: “Scott Chapman is paedophile who used social media to pretend to be a child in order to exploit children for his own gratification.

“He is a dangerous predator who poses a very real risk to children and I’m pleased we’ve been able to put him behind bars.

“Social media is great for keeping in touch with family and friends but sadly there are those who will try to exploit it to put children at risk.

“In POLIT, we work hard every day to identify those people and ensure they can’t harm children.”

Detective Inspector Jim Adams, who leads POLIT, said: “This case illustrates the importance of the work that my team carries out each and every day to ensure that dangerous sexual offenders are brought to justice and children are kept safe.

“The people of Essex can rest assured that our team of dedicated and determined officers will continue to relentlessly pursue anyone that chooses to commit these abhorrent crimes.”