Description
Sunderland man jailed after undercover sting and discovery of serious child abuse images
Martin Thompson, 42, from Sunderland, has been jailed for three and a half years after being caught trying to meet a child for sex and possessing a large collection of indecent images of children.
Thompson was ensnared by an undercover officer posing as a 14-year-old boy on Snapchat. He first made contact in April 2025 and, over the following weeks, sent increasingly sexually graphic messages. Police arrested him in June 2025.
Officers found 220 indecent images of children on his phone and tablet, 134 of them in the most serious category. Some images were of the “most foul and unspeakably depraved” nature, Judge Thomas Moran told Newcastle Crown Court, involving children as young as five months old and a video of a baby being raped.
Thompson had also been communicating with other offenders online. He sent five of the most serious images to others and received material in return. He told one contact he was “into 13 and under.”
Thompson was previously jailed in 2005 for indecently assaulting a girl and was subject to a sexual offences prevention order that banned unsupervised contact with anyone under 16. His attempt to meet someone he believed was a 14-year-old boy amounted to a “very serious breach” of that order, the court heard, as it appeared he intended to have sex with a child.
He admitted seven offences, including attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child. He was assessed as posing a “high risk of serious harm to children.” Thompson must sign the sex offender register and comply with a new sexual harm prevention order.