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David John Andrews, a Northern Irish man, has been sentenced to 27 years in prison for sexually abusing 47 victims, 46 of whom were children at the time of the offences. He was found guilty of 130 charges, including attempted rape, threats to kill, inciting children to engage in sexual activity, and attempting to arrange child prostitution. Andrews used to catfish his victims, regularly posing as a young boy and blackmailing children to engage in sexual activity. Many of his victims were from England. The youngest victim of Andrews was merely eight years old, and the attempted rape charges relate to a young woman who was profoundly disabled.
The judge has called Andrews’ actions “too harrowing and vile to be repeated”. He must serve a minimum of 13 and a half years before he is considered for parole. Andrews’ defense lawyer believed that he had complex mental health issues and had been self-medicating with cocaine at the time of the offenses.
One of Andrews’ victims, referred to as “Claire,” spoke to the BBC about her experiences with Andrews. Claire was 13 when Andrews catfished her on Instagram and groomed her. He threatened her friends and sent her images to people on her list of followers. The repercussions of his actions stayed with Claire even years after the incident: “it destroyed me, I left school for several months and I never went back fully. I was suicidal, self-harming every day.”
Claire’s mother said after it all came out, they would set alarms in the night to ensure her daughter hadn’t harmed herself. Claire’s mom has urged all parents to check their children’s devices to ensure their safety against online predators.
Catherine Kierans, the head of the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) serious crime unit, called Andrews a “dangerous and devious pedophile”. “His actions caused great fear, distress and trauma to the victims, some of whom bravely raised the alarm, ultimately leading to the outcome today. I want to pay tribute to the courage of his victims.” Kierans warned all those who care for children and young people to be vigilant of the dangers posed by online predators.
Detective Chief Inspector Jill Duffie described Andrews as a “vile predator” who committed “heinous crimes”. She called on all those who feel they have been a victim of Andrews or of anyone else to come forward and report it to the police
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
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