From March 2020, life changed as we know it.
The coronavirus lockdown had many of us stay at home, work from home and learn from home.
With this extended time at home, many turned to the internet to keep in touch with friends and family.
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But, unfortunately, lockdown also increased the vulnerability of children and young people.
According to the Office for National Statistics, one in six children (17%) aged 10 to 15 years spoke with someone they had never met before in the last 12 months.
Meanwhile, around 1 in 10 children (11%) aged 13 to 15 years reported receiving a sexual message, while 1 in 100 reported sending a sexual message.
Here, the Manchester Evening News looks at some of the alarming cases to have emerged from the long months of national lockdowns.
Peter McConville
Peter McConville thought he was meeting a teenage girl for sex - it was a trap.
The 29-year-old had been speaking to a girl known as ‘Sienna’ in an online chatroom.
He started chatting to her as he ‘wanted to make new friends in lockdown’.
McConville, of Harpurhey, began making sexualised comments towards the girl and talking about meeting up with her, despite her telling him she was only 13.
He arranged to meet up with her outside Debenhams in Manchester city centre on July 29 last year.
But ‘Sienna’ was an undercover police officer.
His barrister, David James, told the court: “He himself says the stresses of lockdown made him seek some outside contact."
McConville, of Ryedale Avenue, pleaded guilty to one charge of facilitating or arranging the commission of a child sexual offence.
He was jailed for two years and two months in January this year.
He was also made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will be made to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years.
Raymond Carpenter
Raymond Carpenter tried to meet a ‘teenage girl’ for sex, but was left ‘humiliated’ as paedophile hunters live streamed their confrontation.
He had arranged to meet the child at Piccadilly station in Manchester, little did he know he was speaking to an adult decoy.
40-year-old Carpenter had sent the account a picture of his genitals and had sexualised chats with them online.
On July 5 last year, ten members of the group confronted Carpenter, of Oldham, and published a live stream on Facebook.
The video, in which Carpenter said he 'made a mistake', has since been viewed 250,000 times.
Carpenter, of Oldham Road, Failsworth, pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child, attempting to incite a child into sexual activity, and arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence.
The father-of-four was jailed for two years in June this year.
Craig Prestage
Craig Prestage began chatting to “Becca” online, asking her what she looked like and sending her the ‘kiss’ emoji in March this year.
Little did he know he was speaking to an undercover police officer posing as a 12-year-old girl.
As the conversation continued, he suggested moving it onto Kik, where it turned more sexual.
45-year-old Prestage, of Oldham, went on to ask the girl for a naked picture - before suggesting they should meet up during lockdown as ‘not as many people would see them’.
He then suggested the girl should perform a sex act on herself and said they ‘wouldn’t need to have sex right away’.
After he was arrested, officers later found indecent images of children on his mobile phone, along with internet searches suggesting that he’d attempted to wipe his web history.
He pleaded guilty to offences of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and making indecent photos.
Prestage, of Kenton Street, was jailed for seven years and three months in July.
He was also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life and made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order indefinitely.
Michael Kennerley
Convicted paedophile Michael Kennerley was caught hiding two tablets containing hundreds of indecent images of young children.
Under the terms of a sexual harm prevention order following a conviction in 2019, Kennerly was obligated to disclose his electronic devices to the police.
However, upon searching his home in Hope Carr Road, Leigh, on June 15 2020, they found two devices that he had not informed the authorities about.
After examining them, there were found to be 759 indecent images of children and a further 64 images categorised as 'prohibited'.
There were 258 images in the most serious category - A. 96 were category B and 405 were category C.
Police officers also found a phone in the locker of Kennerley's workplace, which he failed to disclose to the sex offender management unit.
Kennerley, 34, was jailed for 17 months in August for an offence of breaching a sexual harm prevention order.
Ali Amiri
Ali Amiri, 33, downloaded an app in May last year which allows users to take part in video calls whilst others watch.
It was there where he talked to children, blowing them kisses, sticking his tongue out and telling them he loved them.
At one stage he asked a young girl to expose herself - whilst others looked on.
When she did, he exposed himself and began to perform a sex act upon himself.
The girl became increasingly distressed, Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
However, little did Amiri, of Crumpsall, know but among those watching was a member of a paedophile hunter group.
They took evidence to the police, who later located Amiri and searched his property.
There they found two mobile phones which contained a number of indecent images of children.
Amiri, of Eadington Street, pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child under 13; making an indecent photograph; and distributing an indecent photograph.
He was jailed for 16 months in June this year, made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years and ordered to sign the sex offender register for 10 years.
A spokesperson for the Internet Watch Foundation said: “During 2020 we saw a 16% increase in the number of reports which showed child sexual abuse imagery.
“During the lockdowns of 2020, we also experienced a 50% increase in public reports.
“We think this was a result of more people being online who saw something they believed to be child sexual abuse.
“Through the whole of 2020, we assessed a webpage every two minutes.
“Every three minutes, that webpage showed a child being sexually abused.
“We’d ask that if you stumble across something online which you believe to be child sexual abuse images or videos, please report it safely and anonymously to iwf.org.uk.
“We work globally to remove this criminal material.”
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