Bed's "worst ever" sex offender admits offences
15 May 2019, 17:26 | Updated: 15 May 2019, 17:31
A man from Chicksands in Bedfordshire has been told he face jail time after admitting string of child sexual offences.
Craig Howe, 45, of Luffenham Place, appeared at Luton Crown Court today (Wednesday) and admitted to 14 counts of child sexual offences, including the rape and assault of a child, sexually exploiting a child and making and distributing incident images of children, which occurred over a six-year period.
He was arrested on 19 March after police received information that he was chatting on a social network platform with other people about sexually abusing children.
His phone and laptop were seized and officers found that he had been making and sending indecent images of children during these online chats.
Detective Constable Kerry Smith from the Internet Child Abuse Investigation team (ICAIT), investigating, said:
"This man is probably the worst child sex offender we have ever come across and we are pleased that he has admitted to these horrific offences.
He was having conversations with other sick individuals about sadistic sexual abuse against children. The imagery on his devices were of an extremely graphic nature, which showed the sexual abuse he was committing against very young children.
By pleading guilty, he can never reverse the damage he has done, but at least he will no longer pose a danger to children.”
Howe will be sentenced on 12 September.
The full list of charges are:
• Rape of a child under 13
• Assault by penetration of a child under 13 (five counts)
• Causing a child under 13 to engage in a sexual activity
• Causing sexual exploitation of a child (two counts)
• Possession of a paedophile manual
• Distributing indecent images of children
• Making indecent images of children (three counts)
People can report concerns around child sexual abuse, by calling police on 101.
Parents can visit the Parents Protect website, which is run by the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, for lots of useful resources to help prevent child sexual abuse.
The NSPCC website also has useful advice and information on how to spot the signs of child sexual abuse.
