Man Pleads Guilty To Number Of Sexual Offences Against Children

A 31-year-old man who travelled to Belfast to meet what he thought was a 13-year-old girl, has pleaded guilty to a number of sexual abuse offences against children.

Anil Patel pled guilty to attempted sexual communication with a child, arranging the commission of a child sex offence and possessing extreme pornography of children. Detective Inspector Richard Vasey from the Police Service of Northern Ireland's Child Internet Protection Team said: "Anil Patel had travelled from London to Belfast attempting to meet what he thought was a 13 year old girl, however, he had actually been communicating with our undercover police officers.

"He sent explicit messages to the person he had met online and talked about meeting in real life.

"I want to send a strong message today that my team are working around the clock to identify and bring people before the courts who think their online offending can go undetected.

"It is our absolute priority to protect and keep children safe in our communities and we will continue to proactively target those who contribute to the cycle of child abuse. I would encourage anyone with concerns or information to get in contact us on 101 or 999 in an emergency. We will act on the information we receive."