A man from Blackburn has been convicted of sharing incident images of children on social media.
Earlier this year, police were tipped off about 23-year-old Jake McMahon-Bates, and an incident which involved uploading two indecent videos of children to Snapchat.
Officers attended McMahon-Bates’ address in Witton Parade, Blackburn, on 1st May of this year and arrested him on suspicion of possessing and distributing indecent images of children.
Amongst the items seized from inside the property were McMahon-Bates’ electronic devices.
On two of the devices seized were a total of 59 indecent images of children, with the youngest being four years old. Some of these indecent images had been sent on to other Snapchat users.
There was also evidence that McMahon-Bates had been communicating with a 15-year-old girl and asking her if she wanted to have sex with him.
McMahon-Bates had also deleted his internet history, which he was banned from doing so by a Sexual harm Prevention Order that was imposed in 2020 and lasted for five years.
McMahon-Bates was later charged with making and distributing indecent images of children sexual communication with a child under 15, breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and improper importation of indecent/obscene articles.
He admitted all the offences when he appeared in the dock at Preston Crown Court last month where he pleaded guilty to all the offences. He returned to the same court on Monday where he was jailed for two years and given a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
DC Beth Turner, from the East Internet Child Exploitation Team, said: “McMahon-Bates is a dangerous individual who has a worrying sexual interest in children and seeks out similar individuals. I welcome the fact he is now in prison.”
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