A man who paid almost £500 to people in foreign countries in exchange for indecent images of children has been jailed for nearly three years.
Alan Bloy was sending large sums of money to people in Ghana and the Philippines in October 2016 and was found in possession of category A, the most severe, photographs.
The 53-year-old was brought to the attention of the police's paedophile online investigation team after intelligence came in that his IP address had been used to access the images.
In November 2017, police raided Bloy's house he was renting in Pittneys, Peterborough, and several devices were seized.
Bloy refused to give up his mobile phone during the raid, but he later voluntarily handed it over later that day on November 1.
Post-it notes with examples of explicit internet searches were also found in his room.
Officers forensically examined his devices and found 32 indecent images, nine of which were classed as category A as well as internet searches for explicit content dating back to June 2017.
Bloy's phone was also found to contain conversations with children as young as 11 and messages detailing his sexual fantasies.
Further investigations revealed that over the course of 12 months, from October 2016, he had sent a total of £490 to people in Ghana and the Philippines in exchange for indecent images of children.
In police interview he admitted to possessing illegal images and sending inappropriate images of himself to people he believed to be children. He was subsequently released under investigation.
Then, in May last year, police in Wales received a report from an online child abuse activist group (OCAG), which had been speaking with Bloy for four months using a decoy account purporting to be a 12-year-old girl.
Officers were sent just under 700 screenshots of messages, which included indecent images Bloy had sent the 'girl' and conversations where he tried to teach 'her' about puberty and sex.
He had also spent time researching Cardiff, after suggesting the pair should meet there.
He was interviewed for a second time and again admitted to his offending.
Yesterday (June 13) at Peterborough Crown Court, Bloy was sentenced to two years and ten months in jail after pleading guilty to three counts of making indecent images of a child, intentionally encouraging the commission of an either way offence, and two counts of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.
He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely and handed a ten-year sexual harm prevention order, which will allow police to monitor his activity online after he has served his prison sentence.
DC Lloyd Metselaar said: "Bloy subjected innocent children to constant victimisation and, despite police intervention, continued his efforts to offend.
"A great deal of effort goes on behind the scenes to bring offenders like Bloy before the courts and his sentence shows the tough stance the justice system takes on this type of offending."
"Thanks to this sentence we will have the necessary powers to monitor his online activity for the next ten years, minimising the risk of further harm to the public."
Anyone who is concerned someone may have been convicted of a sex offence, and could be posing a risk to someone, can apply for disclosure information through Clare's Law and Sarah's Law.
More information on sexual offences and the Sex Offenders Register can be found on the force website: www.cambs.police.uk/information-and-services/Serious-sexual-offences-and-rape/Sex-offenders-register
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