A BELFAST man has been jailed for 27 years for a catalogue of sex abuse offences against children.
David Andrews, of HMP Maghaberry, was sentenced today at Downpatrick Crown Court after the 55-year-old pleaded guilty to 130 charges of sexual abuse.
The charges relate to 47 victims, 46 of whom are children, the court heard.
They include attempted rape, sexual activity with a person with a mental disorder impeding choice, causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, sexual communication with a child, blackmail, attempting to pay for sexual services of a child, attempting to arrange or facilitate child prostitution or pornography and making and possessing indecent images of children.
Belfast man David Andrews has been jailed“On March 27, 2020 the Police Service of Northern Ireland were contacted by Derbyshire Police about reports that a number of underage girls, had been groomed online by a man believed to be residing in Northern Ireland, using the alias of a 13 year old boy,” Detective Chief Inspector Jill Duffie, from the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s Public Protection Branch said.
“On the same day, Detectives from our Public Protection Branch identified the home address of 55-year-old David Andrews in Belfast, arrested him and seized a number of electronic devices for forensic examination.
“Andrews was then interviewed and later charged with a number of child sexual abuse offences, and has been remanded in prison ever since.”
She added: “Following his initial interview with Police, it became clear that David Andrews’ offending spanned right across the United Kingdom.
“He used the same behaviour pattern every time to groom young girls via Snapchat and Instagram into believing they were in a relationship with a young boy of a similar age. He would then encourage them to send indecent images of themselves, later using these images to threaten, blackmail and abuse them.”
One of his victims explained that she first received a message from Andrews via Instagram, where he claimed to be a 13-year-old boy.
Now an adult, she spoke out today about her experience to warn others of the dangers online.
“The conversation started off friendly, he told me he went to a school in a neighbouring town, and we chatted back and forth for a few weeks, she said.
“The conversation soon escalated and he encouraged me to send images of myself.
“After a while, I told my friends about him. We then realised he wasn’t who he said he was, and his profile picture was fake. I felt physically sick. I tried to stop all communication with him but he started to blackmail me saying he would send my images to people at my school if I didn’t respond and send more.
She added: “Even after I blocked him, he created another account pretending to be the sister of the 13 year old boy, and told me I had caused harm to her brother by not continuing to send images.”
“The next thing I know my images were shared around the majority of my year group. It has destroyed my life.”
Det Chf Insp Duffie described Andrews as “a heinous child predator”.
“During the course of a four-year investigation police discovered nearly 10,000 illicit images of children on Andrews’ electronic devices and approximately 40 different usernames that he had used to pose as young boys online,” she explained.
“Police uncovered at least 47 children, some as young as eight years old, that Andrews had groomed and manipulated online, to satisfy his own sexual perversions.
“He has caused unimaginable long-lasting harm, not only for the young girls he preyed upon, but also their families.
“I want to thank them today for being so incredibly brave and assisting our investigations.”