Bedford man jailed for grooming teenage girl

A man from Bedford has been jailed after he was caught grooming and sending sexualised messages and videos to a teenage girl.

Shane Gibson, 37, was arrested after Bedfordshire Police received a report that he had been sending messages to the victim, asking her if she would have sex with him if he paid for a taxi to his address. He also sent her explicit videos of himself through Facebook.

A number of indecent images of children and extreme pornography were also discovered following an investigation into Gibson’s devices.

Gibson, of Wadsworth Court, Bedford, pleaded guilty to one count of causing a child to watch a sex act, one count of arranging/facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, three counts of making indecent images of children and one count of possessing extreme pornography.

He was sentenced to a total of seven years on Friday (25 April) and is subject to a restraining order and a sexual harm prevention order.

Investigation Officer Michela Zasada from Bedfordshire Police’s Internet Child Abuse Investigation Team said: “Gibson had clear intent to sexually abuse a child as he showed a total disregard for the victim’s age and continued to groom her into having sex with him.

“Sadly, any child can become the victim of grooming, no matter what their gender, ethnicity or background. Groomers will build a relationship with the victim to gain their trust before talking to them in a sexual way or asking them to send nude pictures or videos.

“We are seeing an ever-increasing number of reports of this type of crime, particularly online, we would like to take this opportunity to remind parents and guardians how important it is to look out for the signs and to ensure their children know how to keep themselves safe and that they know to tell someone if something doesn’t feel quite right.” 

If you have been the victim of child sexual abuse, it’s never too late to report it to police and there are a number of specially trained officers who are here to support you.  

You can find out more about grooming, the signs to look out for and how to report any concerns on the "ENDGAME" campaign page of Bedfordshire Police’s website.