DOUGLAS WARREN IN EAST SUSSEX JAILED FOR CHILD SEX OFFENCES AFTER GROOMING AND BLACKMAIL ATTEMPT

In September 2017, a man from East Sussex, Douglas Warren, was sentenced to prison for multiple child sex offences. The 44-year-old from St Leonards attempted to groom what he believed was a 13-year-old girl—who was actually an undercover police officer in the United States.

Sussex Police revealed that their paedophile online investigation team received a tip-off indicating Warren was engaging in communication with someone he thought was a minor. Warren exchanged indecent images of himself and shared pictures of children he had found online, using various accounts and personas.

Authorities stated that Warren 'turned threatening' from one account, attempting to blackmail and intimidate the individual he believed was a 13-year-old girl into sending him explicit images.

On 25 May 2017, Warren was arrested when paedophile investigation officers executed a search warrant at his residence. He was interviewed on the same day and admitted to the offences. Warren was subsequently sentenced to a total of six years in prison, which included one count of distributing indecent images of children, three counts of making indecent images of children, one count of encouraging the distribution of such images, and one count of attempting to incite a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in penetrative sexual activity.

It was noted that Warren had a prior conviction for a similar offence two years earlier in Kent. During sentencing, Judge Christine Liang described Warren as dangerous and a high risk of re-offending. She mentioned that the only mitigating factor was his early guilty plea.

Following his release from prison, Warren will be subject to a four-year extended prison licence supervision and will be registered as a sex offender for life.