A man who attempted to meet a child for sex has been jailed for more than six years.
Matthew Swift, 37, of Marriotts Close, Felmersham, also engaged in messages of a sexual nature with several children online.
He has been jailed after an investigation by police in both Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire.
Swift engaged in conversation with several young girls on different social media platforms.
Following his arrest police searched Swift’s digital devices and found several indecent images of children, including dozens put in the worst ‘Category A’ grade in terms of their content.
Swift pleaded guilty to 13 separate offences, from attempting sexual communications with a child, attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, making indecent images of children, arranging and facilitating the commission of a child sex offence and breaching a sexual harm prevention order.
On Friday, 14 January, at Northampton Crown Court, Swift received a jail term of six years and one month.
He was also issued with an updated sexual harm prevention order and will be on the sex offenders register for life.
Investigation Officer Michela Zasada, who led the Bedfordshire Police investigation, said: “I am glad that Swift is now behind bars, off the streets and no longer poses a risk to children.
“Swift was determined to commit this crime, regardless of the significant impact it would have had on any of the victims, and he showed no remorse for his actions.
“He is a dangerous man and the sheer volume of offending shows what a threat he is. We will never tolerate this kind of danger in our community, and I am glad we have been able to put a stop to it.
“Despite our significant efforts to lock up predators like Swift, parents and carers should be alive to this risk, speak to young people about staying safe online and report any concerns they might have to the police.”
Parents can visit the Parents Protect website, which is run by the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, for lots of useful resources to help prevent online child sexual abuse. It also contains a list of organisations and resources focusing on keeping children safe in the digital world.
The NSPCC Share Aware website also contains advice and tips about how children can keep themselves safe online.
To report concerns around child sexual abuse call the police on 101 or visit bedfordshire.police.uk/report
