Paedophile who abused 52 boys has jail sentence increased

David Wilson of Kirstead, King's Lynn, was jailed for 25 years in February for committing 96 child sex abuse offences relating to 52 victims.

David Wilson, from King's Lynn, has had his prison sentence increased (Image: Archant)

But, following the decision at Ipswich Crown Court, the Solicitor General referred Wilson’s sentence to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence (ULS) scheme.

On Thursday (May 27), the court ruled the sentence was unduly lenient and increased it to 28 years’ imprisonment followed by eight years on licence.

The Solicitor General, Rt Hon Lucy Frazer QC MP, said: "Wilson harmed over 50 young boys, abusing, exploiting, and in some cases terrorising them.

Police cuff a shirtless David Wilson, before he is led away to be interviewed about his crimes (Image: National Crime Agency)

"I am glad that the Court of Appeal has seen fit to increase his sentence, and I hope that this can help bring some closure to his many victims."

Wilson, 36, had pleaded guilty to offences including causing children to engage in sexual activity and blackmail.

The former roofer posed as young girls to encourage, threaten and blackmail his victims into sending sexual photographs and videos of themselves and perform sexual acts on others.

The 52 victims in the case were all boys aged between four and 14 and the offending happened between May 2016 and April 2020.

Prolific paedophile from King's Lynn jailed for 25 years (Wa

But the National Crime Agency (NCA) said it had evidence that he approached more than 5,000 children globally and as many as 500 of them sent abuse material to Wilson.

Officers begin the search of David Wilson's home in King's Lynn, in August 2017 (Image: National Crime Agency)

Wilson set up a series of fake social media profiles, using unregistered phones, to send images of girls from the internet to young boys in exchange for the boys sending him videos and images of themselves, the NCA said.

Wilson then threatened to distribute these online unless they sent more extreme footage of themselves, in some cases of them abusing younger siblings or friends.

He was brought to justice after a five year investigation.

Catherine Farrelly, prosecuting, previously told Ipswich Crown Court heard that in two cases Wilson carried out his threats to distribute indecent images of his victims to their friends.

Sentencing judge Rupert Overbury said Wilson ignored the "obvious distress" of the children, with the defendant telling one boy who said he would kill himself: "All your mates are going to see your pictures."

David Wilson, from King's Lynn, preyed on victims aged between four and 14 (Image: Getty)

He said some of the children, who were groomed to abuse younger siblings or friends, were arrested and that one was now in a children's home.

Another child was groomed while struggling with the effects of his father dying from cancer, the judge said, and another pleaded for Wilson to stop as his grandfather was about to die but this had no effect on him.
The judge described Wilson as a "serial paedophile" and an "extremely dangerous individual".

He told him: "You carried out a lengthy and premeditated campaign of sadistic and manipulative abuse of young boys using social media.

"Any decent human being will be astonished at the level of depravity involved."

The offences included causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, causing a child to watch a sexual act, and arranging or facilitating the sexual exploitation of a child.

Wilson also admitted making unwarranted demands for indecent images of a child with menace, threatening to post an indecent image on social media if they did not comply.

When police moved in David Wilson tried to flush his mobile phone down the toilet (Image: NCA)

Norfolk police first raided the modest semi he shared with his mother in 2015, after receiving information he was in possession of indecent images.

But Wilson was not at home when officers called because he was working away in Nottingham. And after he returned to Lynn to speak to them, he told them he had lost his phone on the train home.

He came to the attention of the NCA in 2017. Its head of operations, Tony Cook, said it was "a really difficult, complex, lengthy operation"

He added Wilson was probably one of the most prolific child sex offenders the agency had come across.