The officer went online posing as a teenage girl - Kelsey - aged 14, from Warrington. Within 20 minutes he had 50 replies from men. Many made no attempt to camouflage their intent. Tag names when they replied to 'Kelsey' included 'Northern Perv' and 'English well-hung'.
It proved the point that the officer's boss, Detective Chief Inspector Gavin Day, who oversees the Online Child Abuse Investigation Team (OCAIT) for Cheshire Constabulary, had set out to prove. That there is a pandemic of online sex crimes - and more resources were urgently required.
"I wanted to give senior officers an understanding of 'this is what we are dealing with and why you need to invest'. It was not a difficult sell, I told them it was huge, horrific, and affecting people's lives - they absolutely got it," said DCI Day.
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His colleague, Detective Sergeant Jess Barlow is a proud mum. But you will not see any pictures of her kids on her work desk.
She needs a clear barrier between home life and the chilling crimes she investigates. A target of her team was jailed last month for 20 months. She was disappointed with the sentence.
The man had thousands of indecent images of children. They included material of frightening depravity, fished from the Dark Web. A guilty plea meant his jail term was reduced.
"He wasn't sharing, they were all secure in secret vaults on his phone. In and amongst other child abuse images he had a selection of about 80 (of the worst) pictures."
Asked if such material affects her, DS Barlow said: "Personally I know my limits and I know that my staff do as well. No one is forced to go on the child abuse investigation team, it is a decision that you make. I have three children, and anything involving a child under the age of three I struggle to look at, and I wouldn't look at it. There are other thresholds that other officers have.
"We have a really good welfare system in place. At least every six months we have access to occupational health. We all support each other on the unit."
In four years there has been an almost 400 per cent increase in referral rates for online child abuse in Cheshire - including possession and viewing of material and grooming of children. The National Crime Agency (NCA) gets notification of people that are accessing online child abuse via social media.
The monitoring is international but eventually it drips down to Cheshire if the culprits are in their county. Also, undercover officers online detect and snare suspects, plus the Child Protection system will flash up IP (Internet Protocol) addresses where a person is believed to be accessing online child abuse.
DCI Day's fake schoolgirl pitch to his seniors helped secure extra government funding for the team, which means the Constabulary has expanded the OCAIT from a team of 10 detectives and staff, up to a unit of 46. The force has also got extra cash for equipment including a new digital mobile forensics van to instantly check offenders’ devices.
Explaining the increase in such offending, DCI Day said: "It is a combination of things. The ability of the platforms to be able to detect it, the way they are working has improved. There has been an increase in staff in the NCA, because there was always that worry that we weren't seeing the full picture.
"Also I think lockdown played a part in it too, because people have spent a lot more time online. With not a lot to do except go online it develops into people looking at hardcore pornography, which becomes more sinister, developing into child abuse images, all of this has contributed to that increase."
In 2017 Cheshire Constabulary had 88 referrals compared to 420 last year. "We are talking about viewing indecent images; creating, sharing indecent images of children. All of it is horrific. The degree of it varies," said DCI Day.
One of DS Barlow's colleagues had to view the most depraved material to prepare a case for the Crown Prosecution Service. "I didn't view it," she said. "I was advised by the investigating officer in the digital forensic unit not to view it. It is horrible, and something like that is something you would probably never forget."
"Generally child abuse imagery is difficult to look at whether category C or A," she adds. "Yet I have heard excuses in interviews when an eight year-old child has been made to pose provocatively, and I am told by a suspect - 'she's enjoying it' - that's where we are at in people's heads, how they are trying to justify having such images - 'well I've not touched that child, I'm just viewing it.' They don't realise that is an actual child, that somewhere in the world is being sexually abused."
Asked how she remains stoic when investigating online child sex abusers, she says: "I have a way. I would never listen to music when I view an indecent image, or have pictures of my children on my desk.
"You have really got to keep work and home separate. I exercise, I go to the gym, that's my outlet. We encourage people in our unit to get out of the office - whether it is a walk around the block or a longer break - because welfare is really important.
"I think there is a shelf life for this type of police work. I was on the public protection unit for ten years prior to this. I have dealt with child protection, face to face victims, I have interviewed child victims of sexual abuse, and taking people to court, but this is a totally different ball game. I have been on the unit for two years. I still get satisfaction from the justice we get in this type of investigation."
Her motivation and drive and that of her team saw the man with the vile images from the Dark Web locked up. He pleaded guilty to six offences including possession of extreme pornography; possession of an indecent image of a child; and downloading and saving indecent images of a child.
The 29 year old male offender, who has a child and is from the Warrington area of Cheshire, as well as being given a 20-month custodial sentence, was made the subject of a ten year sex offender registration and ten year sexual harm prevention order.
Detective Sergeant Barlow said: "As well as child abuse imagery we have lots of arrests due to people who are sexually communicating with children online as well; they are actively seeking children on various platforms, to speak to them sexually, and share imagery - of themselves or other child abuse imagery. We also investigate extreme pornography.
"Some people have what we call first generation images as well, so we trace victims, as part of our role - children, in this country who are victims of sexual abuse, which often leads to other forms of investigation.
"If we identify the victims we involve social services and do a full investigation; hopefully get them to engage in a police investigation and look after them. Quite often children don't understand that their engagement with other users online is a form of exploitation.
"There is whole load of education around it for children. Some know they have been abused and want to tell you - you walk through their front door and they are so glad you are there because they are ready to talk.
"Others don't understand they have been exploited online because they have trusted the person they have spoken to - they have shared it with an adult, when they have thought they are sharing it with a peer. Or they are promised those images will not be shared - and they are.
"It is getting children to understand, once it's out there - it's out there for good. It is a difficult thing for children to grasp. We have a victim identification officer, who will go out and speak to the children we identify. The platforms that are used by children are like TikTok, platforms aimed at children are being used for criminal purposes.
"We not only have to speak to parents, our job is to find out if there are any other safeguarding implications when we go into that family environment. There's certainly a lot more that could be done in schools to educate children - another part of the issue is that parents don't understand chat platforms and how they work.
"Especially during lockdown when we saw an increase in this type of activity, it is because children have done their home schooling; and parents have said there you go, there's your iPad, leave me alone for two hours while I do my work - and the iPad has been like a third parent; that device has been in their hands - that has caused a whole world of issues that we are trying to unpick."
DCI Day said: "Working with undercover officers - you get to the point where the meeting is arranged and the (grooming) suspect is up for going for it. But then they don't go.
"I believe the reason they don't go is because these are men with families and they get to their front door and they think, I don't know if they are actually a kid, or if I am being had over here, and if I am caught I am throwing a hand grenade into my family - because it means my family is gone.
"So they stop, but the desire for them to commit those offences is there. My experience is that it is quite a generic type of conversation that goes on online by these offenders. It is like "how are you, what you been up to" - often kids are not at school - vulnerable - 'have you got a boyfriend', 'would you like a boyfriend, I am probably a little bit old for you - this is how old I am - does that really bother you - can you send me a picture'. Then it goes on to do you want to meet......it has a ripple affect not just on the victims but the whole family - of victim and perpetrator are affected.
"There is a concern for the family of the perpetrator - they have a family member who has been doing this - so there are concerns for children in their family - nieces and nephews, safeguarding issues mushroom."
DS Barlow said: "Quite often the interviewing officer is the first person (the perpetrator) has told of this secret life they have online - their sexual fantasy about children.....how and why they got into it. Then suddenly both of their worlds collide, which is why we also place an emphasis on suspect welfare - because there is such a high risk of suicide and self harm - especially the hours post-arrest. So we put certain things in place, and try and assign them to certain agencies, because someone can be rehabilitated ultimately. If they want help, that must be a good thing."
The force has worked with the Lucy Faithful Foundation’s Stop It Now! Helpline. It provides support and rehabilitation to those who recognise that viewing these images are clearly wrong and illegal but nevertheless feel compelled to do so. It also encourages people who are concerned about the viewing habits of someone they know to report it to the police.
DS Barlow added: "Suspects have worked with the Foundation and feedback has been positive. You are working with a neutral person who will give you advice - if they want help there is a bespoke counselling service for them also. We have regular contact with suspects - because it has a huge ripple affect on their lives and family because of the negative connotations attached to offences of this nature."
The stereotype for an online child abuser may be a loner, living with his parents, or by themselves. The reality is different. "Teachers, University lecturers, sports coaches, people who are pillars of the community, it is so broad," DCI Day said. "When you how much it has increased, and the level of offending that goes on, it is disturbing."
He agrees that social media, and the internet, mean online child abuse is a crime which police will be tackling indefinitely - just like they once dealt with armed robbery frequently, before widespread usage of CCTV, automatic vehicles registration recognition, and advances in forensics made it a rarity.
In an era where everything anybody wants is online, online crime against children flourishes. Asked if it can be contained, the senior detective is frank. "Personally I think at the moment it will get worse - we have seen the increase in Cheshire in the last five years. But we can keep a lid on it in three ways.
"Firstly, the way the companies, the platforms get a grip of it, and they are sufficiently regulated, and understand that they can't afford to let this go - I am talking about chat platforms. Secondly is education - the prevent work we are doing.
"Some people don't realise it is illegal - that viewing an indecent image of a child is illegal - but you are perpetuating the offence, so it is. And thirdly our increase in staff."
DS Barlow says the intended path for every offender caught is court. "Obviously it has to pass an evidential threshold but the only way for people to get help is to go through the court process," she said.
The force currently has 19 cases under consideration for prosecution with the Crown Prosecution Service; 105 cases under investigation by police, and another 28 in which suspects are charged and awaiting court.
DCI Day said: "You don't need to give Churchillian speeches for people to do their job in this field. The best example I can give is that going back to my time with the Regional team, we had an undercover officer who was speaking to someone online. The officer was purporting to be someone who had access to a baby.
"A lot of these jobs, when we go and knock on the door are a window to other offending. We identify abuse within the family and victims. On this particular occasion this guy disclosed to us that he had two nephews that he babysat every few weeks and he talked about the abuse he subjected the boys to.
"They were seven and nine. Because we were trying to find out more about this guy my team in the background were doing research and they found pictures of these two boys - the cutest, nicest, kids, you could think of - when we got this guy and he was convicted I sent out a message to the team saying saying 'you were brilliant'.
"One of the team came in and said 'your email made me cry'. It was because I had said as a result of their actions, staying late, their dedication, two little boys can go to bed tonight, knowing they haven't got to stare at a monster in two weeks time."
In April,Cheshire Police, under Operation Guardians, arrested 28 suspects of online child abuse after carrying out 40 raids. This week 10 more suspects were arrested and five registered sex offenders for outstanding offences.
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