Cambridgeshire paedophile with nearly 5,000 child abuse images abused 10-year-old girl then fled UK
A paedophile who abused a 10-year-old girl and had nearly 5,000 child-abuse images in his home then fled to the USA when he was caught.
Colin Cann, 51, had been sending sexual content and threats to a child since 2014.
He has finally been jailed four years and six months after being extradited back to the UK.
He was found to have some of the most severe child-abuse images on a variety of devices in his home in Cambridgeshire in 2016 before he fled the country to America.
He was extradited back to the UK in February of this year. On Friday, Huntingdon Law Courts heard that Cann, from Chatteris in Cambridgeshire, started speaking to the schoolgirl on an instant messaging phone app some time between 1 and 16 September 2014.
His messages to the girl included one that said, "I’ll show you mine if you show me yours", and later that same day, Cann sent her a photo of a young girl performing a sex act on an older man he said was him.
The messages continued, with the girl receiving more photos of Cann performing sex acts in his home and, on 15 September, the messages became threatening.
Investigations later traced the sexual grooming to Cann and two years later, in February 2016, officers visited his home at the time in High Street.
On a computer and storage discs, officers found 2,565 category C indecent images of children, 1,000 category B images and 1392 category A images – the most severe.
In police interview, Cann told officers he had downloaded the indecent images because he had the “foolish idea” of trying to trap other chat users who may have an interest in children.
He was charged with seven offences, including two counts of causing or inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity, two counts of causing a girl under 13 to watch/look at an image of sexual activity and three counts of making indecent images of children.
Cann, who lived in Clay Way in Ely after being returned to the UK, was sentenced on Friday. He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely and made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, also indefinite, to monitor any future offending.
Det Con Keith Evans said: "It was clear Cann was aware he was talking to a child and he even advised her to tell her teacher she had learnt sex education from a paedophile.
"His behaviour was shocking and, as this case highlights, we will do all we can to bring those to justice who use the internet in this way.
"Phones and social media mean children can be vulnerable to those who prey on their innocence and exploit their trust. I would urge parents to speak to their children about online safety and consider exactly who they are communicating with."
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