Wellingborough pervert encouraged children to perform sex acts in online chatrooms

A pervert who used online chatrooms to encourage children to perform sex acts has been put behind bars.

Stephen Parker, previously of Wellingborough, was caught out after Northamptonshire Police’s online child abuse investigation unit received intelligence that he was in possession of indecent images of children.

His electronic devices were seized in 2019 when police raided the 54-year-old’s home address.

Once these were investigated, Parker was found to have been using online video chatrooms where he would commit a sexual act in front of children and encourage them to do the same.

He was subsequently charged with 16 offences, including making indecent images of children and causing/inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. Having pleaded guilty to all counts he was sentenced at Northampton Crown Court to five years in prison.

Detective Constable Adam Brooks, who led the investigation, said: “Like many child sex offenders, Stephen Parker thought that sitting in the confines of his home address was a safe haven for him to talk to children online and engage in online sexual abuse. However as this investigation demonstrates, this isn’t the case, and we will continue to act on intelligence received about a person’s online activity, regardless of where they are.

“Keeping our children in Northamptonshire safe from people like Stephen Parker is why this team comes to work every day. All of us are passionate about what we do and I want to reassure the public that we will continue to do all we can to protect children from sexual abuse.”