Description
A man from the West Midlands travelled nearly 90 miles to Bedford with the intention of sexually abusing an 11-year-old child.
He was handed five years in prison at Luton Crown Court on Thursday, January 21.
Jamie Macpherson, 46, from Walsall was arrested at Bedford Train Station by police soon after arriving in Bedford, Bedfordshire, on June 18 last year.
He was found with two hard drives containing "huge" amounts of indecent images of children.
The images included category A images which means: "Images involving penetrative sexual activity, images involving sexual activity with an animal or sadism."
These were described by investigators as "some of the worst and most abhorrent child sexual abuse material" they had ever seen.
Following his arrest Macpherson pleaded guilty to facilitating and arranging the commission of a child sexual offence, possession to show or distribute indecent images of children, and possession of indecent images of children.
Additionally, he also pleaded guilty to distributing indecent images of children, in relation to offences committed in the West Midlands.
His five-year sentence was comprised of three years for the Bedfordshire offences and a further two years, to run consecutively, for the West Midlands offences.
He was also served with an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
Macpherson’s plans to travel to Bedford were uncovered as a result of a proactive operation by the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit.
Once Macpherson was arrested, the investigation team worked with digital media investigators, who were instrumental in securing the evidence from the hard drives in his possession.
Investigation Officer Paul Baddeley, from Bedfordshire Police’s Cyber Hub, said: "Macpherson is an extremely dangerous offender who has travelled a long way from his home with a clear intent to sexually abuse a child.
"Following his arrest, he was found in possession of huge amounts of indecent images of children. Some of these have been described as some of the worst and most abhorrent child sexual abuse material the investigation team have ever seen.
"Thanks to close collaboration with our colleagues at West Midlands Police and the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit, this horrific offender will be locked up away from our communities and children he could pose a risk to."
He added: "We are seeing an ever increasing amount of referrals of this nature, we would like to take this opportunity to remind parents and guardians of how important it is to ensure their children know how to keep themselves safe online.
"Any child can become the victim of grooming, no matter what their gender, ethnicity or background. If you think that this might be happening to you or someone you know then it’s important you speak out and tell someone you trust."