TIMOTHY EDMONDS OF WITNEY SENTENCED TO 12 YEARS FOR CHILD SEX OFFENCES IN OXFORD

In January 2012, Timothy Edmonds, a 27-year-old man from Broadway Close, Witney, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after admitting to a series of child sex offences. Edmonds appeared at Oxford Crown Court on Friday, January 20th, for sentencing following his guilty pleas to 15 charges related to child sexual abuse on December 9th, 2011. These charges included four counts of raping a child under 13, two counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child, seven counts of taking indecent images of a child, and two counts of distributing indecent images of minors. The offences occurred between January 2009 and January 2011.

His arrest resulted from a collaborative international operation involving Thames Valley Police’s Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT), the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre, and Denmark’s National High Tech Crime Centre (NITEC) Proactive Unit. Danish authorities, participating in the global victim identification network, identified a number of child sexual abuse images online and referred them to CEOP’s Victim Identification Team in the UK.

An investigation by CEOP pinpointed Edmonds as the suspect and located the exact place of the abuse. Thames Valley Police acted swiftly to identify Edmonds and his victim, just 14 hours after the images were first uploaded online. Detective Inspector Laura MacInnes commented, “Edmonds’ prosecution is the result of excellent partnership work carried out by Thames Valley Police, CEOP and the Danish police, to trace Edmonds and his victim. I hope that this case and the sentence handed out by the court today illustrates that those who commit this type of offence have nowhere to hide and they will be brought to justice. I would like to applaud the strength and bravery of the victim in this case. Today’s sentence reflects the serious nature of Edmonds’ offences.”

Andy Baker, Deputy Chief Executive of the CEOP Centre, added, “Today’s sentencing shows how well national and international law enforcement agencies work together to safeguard children and ensure those who seek to exploit and abuse them are held accountable for their actions. The close working relationship between CEOP’s Victim Identification Team and our colleagues in Denmark’s NITEC meant officers from Thames Valley Police were able to locate the victim in the UK, just 14 hours after the abuse images were uploaded to the internet. Offenders who think they can share images of child abuse online should think twice – no matter where in the world you or your victims are, we and other law enforcement partners will work tirelessly to ensure you are identified, caught, and brought to justice.”