A dangerous paedophile from Bristol has been jailed for 24 years for extensive child abuse offences. Andrew Thorne was found guilty after pleading guilty to 18 offences, including sexual communications with a minor, creating and distributing indecent images of a child, and coercing a child into participating in sexual activities.
A judge described Thorne’s offenses as being unlike any case the court had seen before. On Friday, October 25, Bristol Crown Court was told that Thorne first came to the attention of police due to concerns over his online activity, where he was found accessing child sexual abuse material.
Thorne was arrested by Avon and Somerset’s Internet Child Abuse Team (ICAT) on August 10, 2023, on suspicion of producing indecent images of children. Following his arrest and interviews a number of Thorne’s electronic devices were seized and examined.
This investigation revealed the extent and scale of Thorne’s offences. Using an alias, Thorne utilised online platforms to message and communicate with children, instructing victims aged between six and 16 to perform sexual acts on camera.
Through investigations, officers identified a total of 182 individual victims. The investigation also uncovered that Thorne had downloaded hundreds of images, some depicting the sexual abuse of infants as young as 18 months.
Thorne also filmed himself stalking and upskirting women and children in public places, with over 200 instances recorded between August 2022 and August 2023, spanning the UK and Europe.
Thorne was handed a 24-year prison sentence, with a requirement to serve at least 18 years before being considered for parole. Should he be granted parole, the remainder of his sentence will be served on licence, and a lifetime Sexual Harm Prevention Order has been imposed.
The presiding Judge, during sentencing, remarked that the court “had not seen a case like this” and the “sheer number of victims was more than the court had ever seen”.
Investigating officer in the case Lucy Hartill, said: “Thorne is a very dangerous individual who has repeatedly targeted children, the most vulnerable in society, both online and offline.
“He has directed children to engage in harmful sexual behaviour which will undoubtedly have a profound effect on them for the rest of their lives, all for his own selfish desires.
“This has been a difficult and complex investigation, but the sentence demonstrates how seriously we take these matters and our enduring work to bring offenders such as this to justice.”