Christopher Lumley 38

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Hartlepool lorry driver jailed for nine years over plans to watch girl, 10, being raped

Christopher Lumley, 38, of Hartlepool, has been jailed for nine years after arranging to video-call and watch a 10-year-old girl being raped by her grandfather.

Teesside Crown Court heard Lumley was already under investigation after the FBI identified chats with another child sex offender in the USA. Cleveland Police were alerted by the National Crime Agency in March. When officers arrived at his home he said he knew why they had come and that he had “messed up”.

Investigators found more than 700 “extremely disturbing” indecent images of children, including babies and toddlers, on his phone. Around 370 were in the most serious category. He had distributed about 540 images online, including 252 in the highest category, and had discussed raping children aged from zero to 12.

Released on bail, Lumley returned online, downloaded and shared hundreds more images, and contacted a man called Tony on a Russian website used by child sex abusers. Tony was an undercover officer posing as a grandfather who had been abusing his granddaughter for two years, beginning when she was eight. Lumley arranged a video call to watch the girl being raped and sent the officer bondage-related images to give him “ideas”.

He was arrested again in August. Officers found he had made more than 3,000 visits to the site and held a further 1,180 indecent images of children, of which about 250 had been distributed.

Lumley admitted arranging the commission of a child sex offence and making and distributing indecent images of children.

Judge Deborah Sherwin described it as “particularly worrying” that he committed further, more serious offences while on bail. She said his collection contained images of the “most serious depravity that can be imagined” and were “some of the worst” to come before the court. Any “right-minded” person would find his actions “disgusting”.

Lumley must sign the sex offender register and comply with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order indefinitely.