A man has been jailed for 5 years after a West Midlands Police investigation revealed that he had abused a young girl and amassed a catalogue of up to 60,000 indecent child images.
West Midlands Police uncovered the shocking photographs and videos on a hard drive at the Monyhull Hall Road home of 53 year old Paul Piper.
On his mobile phone, police also found WhatsApp conversations between Piper and a woman, in which he spoke of sexually assaulting a young girl, promising to send her images if he could get the youngster to “reveal some flesh”.
Detectives managed to identify the victim, a girl of junior school age. The brave girl told specially trained Public Protection officers how Piper had sexually assaulted her.
Initially, Piper denied the sexual assault but admitted downloading the images, saying he’d stumbled across them while surfing the net while he was “bored”.
However, on Friday 6th October at Birmingham Crown Court, Piper admitted all charges – including two of sexual assault – and was found guilty. He was jailed for five years and three months and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life.
Investigating officer, Detective Constable Ian Russell from West Midlands Police’s Child Protection Unit, said: “Our proactive online enquiries identified Piper as someone who had been downloading indecent child images – but it was shocking to find the extent of his image library when we forensically examined his media storage devices.
“Examination of his phone then revealed damning social media messages and enabled us to trace a young girl who’d been abused by Piper.
DC Russell described how officers in the force’s Public Protection Unit are specially trained to speak to young victims and witnesses in relaxed surroundings.
He said: “I’d like to thank the girl and her parents for being so supportive throughout the enquiry and whose evidence has helped us convict a dangerous paedophile.”
More information on child sexual abuse – including support for victims and how to report suspected offenders – can be found on the West Midlands Police website