Man jailed for online offences against children

A man from Bristol has been jailed after engaging in sexual communication with a child and being found to have indecent images of children.

George Rogers pleaded guilty to a total of 32 offences and was jailed for three years and four months at Bristol Crown Court on Thursday 23 January.

Rogers posed as a girl to message two teenage girls living in the West Mercia and Hampshire police areas, which was reported to those forces in late-2022.

The 25-year-old, from Henleaze, was identified as the suspect and the investigation led by Avon and Somerset Police due to Rogers’ links to Bristol.

A warrant was carried out in February 2023 that led to Rogers’ arrest and his electronic devices being seized for examination. Over the next 18 months evidence was recovered showing Rogers had been communicating with dozens of children across Europe and America, as well as nine in the UK, including the two who made the initial reports to police.

Rogers not only relentlessly pursued the girls for photos and videos, he then threatened to leak them to the victim’s friends and families. He also told the children that he knew their addresses and would go there, if they did not obey his demands.

During two police interviews he fully admitted contacting these children while pretending to be a teenage girl himself, requesting and demanding indecent images, or videos and threatening to leak them if they did not obey him and send him more.

Bristol Crown Court heard testimonies from the victims and their families about the impact the crime had caused.

One child, who was a teenager at the time of the offences, said Rogers’ actions had left her scared to leave the house and continues to affect her friendships. Another victim revealed she now struggles to trust anyone and feels anxious if she is in a social situation with men she does not know.

The court also heard from parents who said the offences had impacted on their children’s school attendance because of the mental trauma of what had happened.

In total Rogers pleaded guilty to the following offences:

• 11 counts of sexual communication with a child
• 11 counts of making indecent photograph of a child
• Seven counts of threatening to disclose private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress
• Two counts of inciting a girl aged 13-15 to engage in sexual activity
• One count of send letter / communication / article conveying a threatening message

His Honour Judge James Patrick acknowledged how what had happened had deeply affected all nine children.

In addition to the prison sentence, Rogers was made subject of a sexual harm prevention order and placed on the sexual offenders’ register indefinitely. He will never be allowed to work with children in the future.

DC Mike Tarling, officer in the case, said: “We wish to publicly acknowledge the incredible bravery shown by the nine girls and their families who have supported our investigation into Rogers’ sickening offending.

“The impact of the lies he told is clear to see and will no doubt live with them forever.

“Rogers exploited the girls for his own sexual gratification and had rightly been jailed for his horrendous crimes.

“The girls in this case were innocent victims of a predator posing online as someone else and he attempted to threaten them into silence.

“We encourage parents and guardians talk to their children about staying safe online and reassure them if they are concerned about anything they encounter, then they can flag that with their parents, the police or a responsible adult and know they are causing no trouble by doing so.”