Paedophile who travelled from Wales to meet North East child, 9, for sex is behind bars

A convicted paedophile travelled from Wales to the North East to meet a child for sex – but found himself talking to police.
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Shem Jones, 39, travelled to the region last June to meet a nine-year-old child to whose mother he believed he had been chatting online.

But he was actually speaking to an undercover officer from the North East Regional Organised Crime Unit (NEROCU).

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The officer and Jones exchange messages discussing his intentions to get mother and child involved in a paedophile sex ring. Jones also sent indecent photos and short videos of other children.

Officers launched a specialist operation to target Jones and bring him into custody.

More than 400 images of child abuse

On June 12 last year, he made the seven-hour journey from home and, once identified at the agreed meeting point, was arrested, at which point the investigation was taken over by Northumbria Police’s Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT).

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

Shem JonesShem Jones
Shem Jones
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As part of the team’s investigation, Jones was found to be in possession of other indecent videos of a child which he had made himself.

The girl was quickly identified and spoken to by specialist officers and revealed Jones had groomed her online before meeting her on a number of occasions.

Jones was subsequently 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, along with a further three offences of making an indecent image of a child, after the examination of his laptop uncovered a catalogue of more than 400 images of child abuse and illegal imagery.

Jones, of Wind Street, Llandysul, Ceredigion, appeared at Newcastle Crown Court on October 5 , where he pleaded guilty to all charges.

‘Vile plans’

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Yesterday, 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 POLT’s Detective Constable Jane Marley welcomed the lengthy sentence and commended the girl Jones had abused: “This is another fantastic result which reinforces our commitment to protecting all children from predators like Jones,” she said.

“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.

‘Bravery’

"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.”

If you have concerns about child abuse or want to report a crime, then you can contact Northumbria Police via the ‘Tell Us Something’ page of the force website or by calling 101.