Maidstone: Jail For Man Who Abused Young Girl

18 June 2014, 13:41

A man who travelled from Aldershot in Hampshire to Maidstone to sexually abuse a young girl has been sentenced at court.

Darren Andrews, 33 years-old, and formerly of Cambridge Road in Aldershot, was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court to six years in prison. He was also given an extended licence period of five years for public protection.

Andrews made arrangements online to abuse an eight year-old girl, trading emails and text messages as he made his plans. The exchanges however were with a law enforcement officer.

On 17 January 2014 Andrews travelled to Maidstone to sexually abuse the girl, but was arrested by officers from the Kent Police child exploitation investigation team.

Having pleaded guilty at court, Andrews was sentenced on 17 June at Maidstone Crown Court to six years in prison for arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence; arranging or facilitating child pornography; possessing indecent images of children and distributing indecent images of a child.

An indefinite sexual offences prevention order was granted and Andrews will have to sign the sex offenders' register indefinitely.

Detective Constable Kinga Hammersley from Kent Police said: "Andrews told officers that it was just fantasy and that he would never have gone through with the plans. However, the graphic detail he included in his emails was hugely concerning, and he displayed a clear desire to sexually abuse children throughout his emails and during an initial meeting. We will use the full extent of our technical and legal capabilities to investigate people who think it is acceptable to abuse innocent children and put them before the courts."