A MAN who admitted to making and taking indecent images of children has been jailed for more than three years.
Liam Paul McKinnon, 38, used an online file-sharing platform to engage with someone he believed was an adult with a sexual interest in children.
However, McKinnon was actually communicating with an undercover police officer and was subsequently arrested.
“I am pleased to see Liam McKinnon sent to prison and I hope it provides the people affected by his crimes with some closure, though no sentence could truly make up for how violated they will have felt having these photos taken of them,” said Detective Constable Abi Jones.
Threats to police
In July this year, McKinnon sent the undercover officer an indecent video of a child that he’d obtained online as well as indecent photographs of children that he had taken himself.
McKinnon expressed an interest in trading images during the chat and also stated that he had considered contact offending, however, at the present time felt it was ‘too risky’.
He was arrested in Corby on July 18 and later charged with making indecent images of children, distributing indecent images of children, taking indecent images of children and voyeurism.
During his police interview, McKinnon became extremely volatile.
He made threats of violence towards officers if they didn’t stop reading out the transcript of his online conversation and ended the interview early.
McKinnon, previously of Ashley Avenue, Corby, pleaded guilty to all of the offences against him when he appeared at Northampton Crown Court on August 30.
He returned to the same court on October 11, where he was was sentenced to three years and two months in prison.
‘Predatory’
DC Jones, of Northamptonshire Police’s Online Child Abuse Investigation Unit (OCAIU) welcomed the custodial sentence handed to McKinnon.
“He has shown himself to be a predatory, dangerous and opportunistic offender, and shown real intent to sexually abuse young children,” she said.
“He is thankfully now behind bars and I hope that news reassures the public.
“All of us in the OCAIU are passionate about protecting children and we will use every available means in order to do that.
“We don’t just wait for the offenders to come to us, we proactively look for them as we have done here and we will continue working hard to ensure more people like Liam McKinnon are brought to justice.”