A man who travelled seven-hours to the North East to meet a child for sex has been jailed.

Last year Shem Jones, aged 39, travelled to the North East from his home in Wales to meet a nine-year-old child whose mother he had been talking to online.

What he didn’t know, however, was that he was actually speaking to an undercover officer from the North East Regional Organised Crime Unit (NEROCU).

The officer and Jones had messaged countless times about his intentions to get them involved in a child sex ring.

Jones had also sent a number of indecent photos and short videos of other children.

Officers from the NEROCU unit quickly launched a specialist operation to target jones and bring him into custody.

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On  June 12 last year, Jones made the seven-hour journey from his home to meet the child and once he was identified at the agreed meeting point officers swiftly arrested him.

After he was handcuffed the investigation was taken over by Northumbria Police’s Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT).

Jones was soon charged with arranging the commissioning of a child sex offence and three counts of distributing indecent images of a child and remanded in custody.

The team also pulled together and extensive case file to show in court and as part of their investigation Jones was found to be in possession of other indecent videos of a child he had made himself.

The child was identified and spoken to by specialist officers, revealing Jones had groomed her online before meeting her on a number of occasions.

Jones was indicted on a further seven offences of engaging in sexual activity with a child, meeting a child following sexual grooming and three offences of taking an indecent image of a child,

Meanwhile, he was indicted on a further three offences of making an indecent image of a child after the examination of his laptop uncovered a catalogue of over 400 images of child abuse and illegal imagery.

On October 5 Shem Jones, of Wind Street, Llandysul, Ceredigion, appeared at Newcastle Crown Court and pleaded guilty to all charges.

On Wednesday (December 21) he appeared at the same court and was sentenced to a total of 12 years imprisonment and an indefinite sexual harm prevention order for his despicable actions.

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Detective constable Jane Marley from POLIT, said: “This is another fantastic result which reinforces our commitment to protecting all children from predators like Jones.

“Jones had vile plans to build a business around the sexual exploitation of a child and was actively engaged in the sexual abuse of children he had groomed online.  Thankfully he is now safely behind bars.  I would like to commend the bravery of the victim in disclosing the abuse Jones had subjected her to.   

“We will continue to work with our partners to tackle online child abuse and sexual exploitation and would urge anyone who has been a victim of this type of offending, or has concerns about someone’s behaviour, to come forward and talk to us.”