RETIRED POLICE OFFICER JAILED FOR ONLINE CHILD SEX OFFENCES
A former police officer, Mark Smith, was found to have engaged in a series of heinous online activities involving children.He explicitly urged a ‘dad’ to sexually abuse his own ten-year-old daughter while he watched via a video call, describing the act as part of a ‘journey’.
During police investigations, Smith confessed to having a sexual interest in teenage girls and attempted to justify his behaviour as 'boredom' following his retirement from Merseyside Police.
Additionally, he engaged in explicit chats with decoys posing as 13-year-old girls on Snapchat, where he expressed his desire to see minors naked and perform sexual acts.
Smith also sent indecent images and a video of a child being raped.
The police executed a search warrant at his home on May 2, 2024.
When questioned, Smith admitted his actions, citing boredom and misuse of social media platforms like Kik, which he claimed he had only recently started using after retiring in February 2023, though records show the account was created in November 2022.
He also claimed his interactions with a supposed father were intended to ‘safeguard’ the child and that he had intended to report the man.
Throughout his online conversations, Smith used the pseudonym 'Matty Johnson' and exchanged highly sexualized messages.
Despite warnings about the age of the decoy girls, he persisted in his discussions, requesting pictures and describing his sexual fantasies.
During his arrest, Smith expressed remorse, and his defence highlighted his prior good character, volunteer work, and his mental health treatment.
Nevertheless, he was convicted on multiple counts, including encouraging a child sex offence, attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting sexual communication with a child, and distributing indecent images.
He was sentenced to 28 months in prison and received a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and was ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for ten years.
The judge condemned him for his “single course of conduct over a period of about two weeks” and his highly sexualized conversations with officers posing as minors.
