King's Lynn man admits pretending to be teenage girls online to abuse young boys
He will be sentenced next year
Last updated 23rd Nov 2020
A man who pretended to be multiple teenage girls online has admitted sex abuse offences against 51 boys aged four to 14.
David Nicholas Wilson, from Fairstead, appeared in Ipswich Crown Court earlier today and pleaded guilty to 96 counts of child sex abuse.
The National Crime Agency says he is one of the most profilic child sexual abuse offenders the organisation has even investigated.
The labourer, 36, created and used the series of fake identities to contact the victims on Facebook and other social media.
Using unregistered phones, he sent sexual images of young women from the internet in exchange for the boys sending him videos and images of themselves.
He built up trust with his victims before blackmailing them into sending him more extreme footage of themselves – and in some cases, of them abusing younger siblings or friends.
On some occasions he then distributed the images to victims’ friends, showing no compassion even when some victims begged him to stop.
Such was the level of suffering Wilson inflicted several children on the indictment spoke of wanting to end their lives.
The offences were committed between May 2016 and April 2020.
But a National Crime Agency investigation has unearthed evidence of as many as 500 victims sending him images – and of Wilson contacting at least 5,000 children in the UK and abroad.
He is one of the most prolific child sexual abuse (CSA) offenders the NCA has ever investigated.
Today, Wilson, of Kirstead, King’s Lynn, Norfolk, appeared at Ipswich Crown Court and admitted the charges which included: intentionally causing or inciting boys to engage in sexual activity; blackmail; intentionally causing children to look at sexual images, and intentionally facilitating the sexual exploitation of children by sending on images of those children.
He will be sentenced on 12 January 2021.
Tony Cook, NCA head of CSA operations, said:
“David Wilson is a prolific offender who has caused heartbreaking suffering to some of the boys and their families in this case.
“He was able to gain the boys’ trust and exploit their use of social media using well practiced techniques to convince them he was genuinely a young female who was interested in them.
“He then manipulated or forced them to send images of themselves or other children which he craved.
“He knew the anguish victims were suffering but ignored any pleas from them to stop until he got what he wanted from them.
“Wilson retained material the children had sent and used the threat of sharing it among their friends to control them.
“I commend the victims and their families for their bravery in helping the prosecution and our investigators for painstakingly and tenaciously proving Wilson was responsible.
“Wilson is an example of adult sexual offenders who use the internet to hide their real identities, using plausible online personas to exploit children.
“We know children are increasingly sharing personal material on social media sites but I would implore them to think carefully about their interactions online and be aware of the hurt and long-term damage manipulative offenders like Wilson cause.”