OFF THE WIRE
A VERY DANGEROUS INDIVIDUAL': William Wright targeted boys as young as eight.
Twenty-four-year-old William Wright, known as Andy, was branded "a very dangerous individual".
The court heard he targeted children through the internet and in person, and had gone on abusing children even after he was first arrested.
He was ordered to serve a minimum term of three years and ten months before he can apply for parole, but was told he will only be released when he no longer poses a danger to young children.
Lincoln Crown Court heard that, within days of joining Lincolnshire Police in January 2009, Wright began targeting young boys.
Prosecutor Julie Warburton said: "The defendant was involved in the pursuit and successful targeting of young boys for sexual activity.
"He is a predatory pedophile with a preference for boys between the ages of 8 and 15.
"He not only had direct contact with a number of boys but also made contact with many more through the internet.
"He deliberately and systematically sought out contact with these young boys using web cameras, chatrooms, MSN Messenger, Facebook and Bebo to lure young people into contact with him when they were unaware of his identity."
Miss Warburton said Wright posed as a teenage girl online to persuade young boys to send him indecent photographs of themselves.
He was eventually brought to justice after a mum became suspicious after noticing Wright had asked to be a friend of her son on his Facebook account.
Later the same evening the mother, who cannot be identified, signed into her son's Facebook account.
She quickly realised Wright was also using the name Jenny Curran and was so disturbed by the content of messages being sent to her ten-year-old that she dialled 999, sparking the police investigation.
After his arrest, Wright returned to his native Northern Ireland and committed further offences before being remanded in custody.
A team of detectives mounted an 18-month investigation which revealed that Wright had made contact with over 200 boys over the internet.
Wright, formerly of Townhill Lane, Bucknall, near Bardney, admitted 32 charges.
They included six charges of sexual assault, eight charges of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, one charge of attempting to incite a child, one charge of inciting a teenaged girl to engage in pornography, 11 charges of making indecent photographs of a child, three charges of possession of indecent photographs, one charge of taking an indecent photograph and a further charge of distributing indecent photographs.
The offences involved victims
aged between 8 and 17 between September 2007 and April 2010.
Judge Sean Morris told Wright: "You are a very dangerous individual. You have deep-seated pedophile tendencies over which you have no control.
"Had it not been for the fact that a parent was in the lucky position to suddenly be suspicious, you would have gone on and your offending would have escalated.
"The damage you have done extends to your victims' lives, their families' lives and their friends' lives.
"You were trusted. You have betrayed the uniform both of the police and the scout movement."
Wright, who studied forensic science at the University of Lincoln, worked for the probation service and at a local school before joining Lincolnshire Police.
He resigned from the force in December 2009 two months after his arrest.
John Pini QC, defending, said Wright had spared his victims the ordeal of giving evidence by his guilty pleas. He said Wright accepted he needs treatment.
After the hearing, detective superintendent Guy Collings said: "I would like to say a huge thank you to the children and parents for their courage and bravery at coming forward and confronting a dangerous, predatory pedophile. Without their help and support he might never have been brought to justice."
The court heard he targeted children through the internet and in person, and had gone on abusing children even after he was first arrested.
He was ordered to serve a minimum term of three years and ten months before he can apply for parole, but was told he will only be released when he no longer poses a danger to young children.
Lincoln Crown Court heard that, within days of joining Lincolnshire Police in January 2009, Wright began targeting young boys.
Prosecutor Julie Warburton said: "The defendant was involved in the pursuit and successful targeting of young boys for sexual activity.
"He is a predatory pedophile with a preference for boys between the ages of 8 and 15.
"He not only had direct contact with a number of boys but also made contact with many more through the internet.
"He deliberately and systematically sought out contact with these young boys using web cameras, chatrooms, MSN Messenger, Facebook and Bebo to lure young people into contact with him when they were unaware of his identity."
Miss Warburton said Wright posed as a teenage girl online to persuade young boys to send him indecent photographs of themselves.
He was eventually brought to justice after a mum became suspicious after noticing Wright had asked to be a friend of her son on his Facebook account.
Later the same evening the mother, who cannot be identified, signed into her son's Facebook account.
She quickly realised Wright was also using the name Jenny Curran and was so disturbed by the content of messages being sent to her ten-year-old that she dialled 999, sparking the police investigation.
After his arrest, Wright returned to his native Northern Ireland and committed further offences before being remanded in custody.
A team of detectives mounted an 18-month investigation which revealed that Wright had made contact with over 200 boys over the internet.
Wright, formerly of Townhill Lane, Bucknall, near Bardney, admitted 32 charges.
They included six charges of sexual assault, eight charges of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, one charge of attempting to incite a child, one charge of inciting a teenaged girl to engage in pornography, 11 charges of making indecent photographs of a child, three charges of possession of indecent photographs, one charge of taking an indecent photograph and a further charge of distributing indecent photographs.
The offences involved victims
aged between 8 and 17 between September 2007 and April 2010.
Judge Sean Morris told Wright: "You are a very dangerous individual. You have deep-seated pedophile tendencies over which you have no control.
"Had it not been for the fact that a parent was in the lucky position to suddenly be suspicious, you would have gone on and your offending would have escalated.
"The damage you have done extends to your victims' lives, their families' lives and their friends' lives.
"You were trusted. You have betrayed the uniform both of the police and the scout movement."
Wright, who studied forensic science at the University of Lincoln, worked for the probation service and at a local school before joining Lincolnshire Police.
He resigned from the force in December 2009 two months after his arrest.
John Pini QC, defending, said Wright had spared his victims the ordeal of giving evidence by his guilty pleas. He said Wright accepted he needs treatment.
After the hearing, detective superintendent Guy Collings said: "I would like to say a huge thank you to the children and parents for their courage and bravery at coming forward and confronting a dangerous, predatory pedophile. Without their help and support he might never have been brought to justice."
