Stuart Ross 50

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Our Police Online Investigation Team (POLIT) and colleagues have ensured a Basildon man is jailed after he was caught trying to arrange to rape children.

Stuart Ross, 50, of Orlando Drive in Basildon, first spoke to a woman called Louise on social media on 15 November 2020.

Ross quickly turned the conversation to describing the sexual acts and abuse he wanted to act out on Louise and her two young daughters, aged four years old and four months old, and how soon he would be able to visit them.

Over the course of 11 days he exchanged dozens of messages with Louise and had phone calls confirming times and dates he would travel to her address in Yorkshire.

The two daughters were not real, and ‘Louise’ was an undercover police officer based in the Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Crime Unit.

Arrested, charged, pleading not guilty

On 26 November 2020 our POLIT officers – specialists in tackling online child sex offences – arrested Ross, taking him into custody and seizing his electronics.

Searches for travel times between his and the officer’s address, as well as dozens of searches for abusive material, were found on the devices.

He was charged with attempting to arrange or facilitate the commission of a child sex offence, and publishing an obscene article.

While he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge, after appearing at Basildon Crown Court for a three-day trial a jury found Ross guilty of attempting to arrange a child sex offence as well. He was remanded in custody and today, Thursday 13 August, was sentenced to nine years in prison, with a further two years on an extended licence, at the same court. He will have to serve at least two-thirds of his custodial sentence in prison.

He was also given a 15-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order which tightly controls what access he can have to internet-connected electronic devices, and will remain on the sex offenders’ register for life.

'Ross is a sexual predator'

POLIT Detective Constable Sally Keddy, the investigating officer in the case, said:

In interview he tried to claim his messages were just a fantasy. At court he pleaded not guilty. In reality, Ross is a sexual predator.

He is a danger to children and now he is spending time in prison for his offences, children are safer.

It is right that he now serves a long sentence for his abhorrent offending.

We are fully committed to ensuring those who pose a threat to vulnerable children are brought to justice, working closely with our colleagues nationwide as we did with the Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Crime Unit in this case.

We work across borders to stop these crimes and protect our communities. Those committing these offences should expect to be brought to justice.