A man who posed online as a scout for child models has admitted 88 sex offences against victims as young as six.
David Harmes, 27, had only just been released from prison for grooming children online when he began offending again. His latest offences involved 39 victims in the UK and six in the US between July 2019 and February 2020.
He was remanded in custody at Chester crown court on Monday following his guilty pleas and will be sentenced on 5 September.
Harmes targeted children aged six to 15, all of whom except one were female. He would use a number of identities to lure his victims, including a model scout called Jess, who he claimed worked for major clothing outlets; and a boy called Alex or Jaden.
After spotting a potential victim on YouTube or Instagram, he would then make contact.
Cheshire police said his “deceit and manipulation was to fuel his twisted obsession”.
In May 2016, Harmes was sentenced to eight years in jail for child sex offences, but was released early on licence in February 2019, Cheshire police said. A year later he was recalled to prison for breaching his licence after detectives learned he had started offending again within months of his release.
On 18 May 2023, while still in prison at HMP Risley, Harmes was served with a summons to appear in court to face the charges. These included possessing, making and distributing indecent images, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, sexual communication with a child and engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.
DS Simon Draco said: “This has been a complex and meticulous investigation with international-based victims that has resulted in the conviction of Harmes and will bring justice for the victims of his offending.”
Detectives pieced together his offending and identified him by his distinctive bedding in the images they found on his devices, as well as footage of him accidentally opening his laptop and filming his face for a few seconds.
DS Mark Naylor, an investigating officer from the force’s major crime directorate said: “Having received intelligence that Harmes was offending, his laptops, phones and other digital devices were seized in a warrant at his address, and Harmes was returned to prison for breaching his sex offender notification order on 8 February 2020 preventing him from committing further crimes.”
Draco added: “Cheshire constabulary has an investigation team dedicated to targeting those who sexually abuse and offend against children online and teams across the force work with partners to educate children, parents and carers about online predators, to safeguard children from potential harm.
“We’re really keen to drum home the message that parents and carers need to know what their children are doing online in order to protect them from predators like Harmes.
“We all know that we need to teach children not to speak to strangers in the street, but we need to drive home that very same message for the online world too, to prevent people like Harmes taking advantage.”
