'Dangerous' Essex offender jailed after posing as teenager online to get sexual images from children

A "dangerous" man who posed as a 14-year-old to get sexual images of children has been jailed.

Jordan Reid, 30, from Essex, caused "untold" psychological damage to children by pretending to be a 14-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy online, the court heard.

After being arrested by Essex Police in January at his former address in Witham, Reid was charged with 14 offences, including causing a child under 13 to engage in a sexual act, causing a child to watch a sexual act and distributing inappropriate images of children.

He openly told police that he had been in online conversations where indecent images of children had been shared.

Reid, of Victoria Gardens, Colchester, pleaded guilty and appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court on Wednesday, where he was sentenced to a total of 14 years in prison and issued with a sexual harm prevention order for life.

William Clegg KC told Reid: “You have done untold damage to those children and no one will ever know what psychological harm you have caused.”

Det Con Matthew Wright said: “This was a thorough investigation by [the police online investigation team] and as a result, a dangerous man has been put in prison.

“We worked closely with partner agencies to facilitate the intelligence we needed to quickly investigate Reid so he couldn’t harm any more children.”

“The internet should be a space where young people can communicate with friends and stay connected.

“It should not be an environment where perpetrators can take advantage of vulnerable victims and our police online investigation team will continue to work hard to stop this.”

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