A “dangerous, predatory” man from Whittlesey – who moved to Stamford after his arrest-, was jailed today for 10 years for preying on young girls.

Jason Swift, 45, previously of Glenfields, Whittlesey, was arrested on October 23, 2013, after police received information of him possessing indecent images of children and inciting children to engage in sexual activity.

Police seized a number of devices from Swift’s home and, after examination, police discovered almost 3,000 indecent images of children on them.

Very quickly it became apparent to officers that between September 2012 and October 2013, Swift had had contact with hundreds of children, many outside of the UK.

Police have managed to identify 65 children, however the charges against Swift only relate to eight of them, all of who were girls under 16-years-old.

Four of them were aged 13 at the time of the offences, two were aged 14, and one was 15-years-old and the last just 10-years-old at the time of the offences.

On December 4 last year, Swift was charged with seven counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, three counts of causing a child to watch images of sexual activity, five counts of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, one count of facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, eight counts of making indecent images of a child, one count of possessing indecent images of a child and one count of taking indecent images of a child.

He pleaded guilty to the charges at Peterborough Crown Court on April 17 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison at Huntingdon Crown Court today.

Detective Constable Nicola Perry of the Paedophile Online Investigation Team said: “The true scale of Swift’s offending is not truly known but what is known is that he was a dangerous, predatory man who preyed on the vulnerable for his own sexual gratification.

“He would use the internet to identify, groom and sexually exploit hundreds of children and encouraged them, by the use of trickery, persuasion, threats and blackmail, to commit sexual acts on themselves and others via webcam and the internet.

“Our job is to protect those who will be hurt, or hurt again, if we don’t take action. Swift is now behind bars where he cannot bring anymore hurt to children, not only in the UK, but across the world.”

At time of arrest Swift live in Glenfields, Whittlesey but later moved to Charlock Drive, Stamford.