JORDAN WILLIAMS FROM BURY SENTENCED FOR ABDUCTION AND SEXUAL OFFENSES IN RHYL AND STOKE-ON-TRENT

In November 2017, a disturbing case unfolded involving Jordan Williams, a 28-year-old man from Bury, who engaged in a series of criminal acts targeting a young girl he met online. The sequence of events revealed a pattern of grooming, abduction, and sexual activity that culminated in his arrest and subsequent sentencing.

Williams's criminal conduct began when he established communication with the 15-year-old victim through BlackBerry Messenger. According to court proceedings, Williams, who was 26 at the time, initially contacted the girl and they exchanged messages over a period of time. The prosecutor, Hugh O’Brien Quinn, detailed that the girl claimed she told Williams she was 14, although Williams later stated he did not recall this detail. Despite this ambiguity, the two agreed to meet in person.

Williams traveled from his home in Bury to Stoke-on-Trent to meet the girl for the first time. Their initial encounter was reportedly innocent, with no sexual activity taking place during that first meeting. However, they continued to communicate and arranged a second meeting, during which they went out together in Stoke-on-Trent. On this second occasion, they engaged in kissing and touching, indicating a progression in their relationship.

By their third meeting, the girl had turned 15. She agreed to travel with Williams to his parents’ caravan in Rhyl, a seaside town in Wales. To cover her tracks, she told her parents she was staying with a friend. During this trip, the pair stayed overnight in the caravan, and during this time, they engaged in sexual intercourse. Afterward, Williams returned the girl to Stoke-on-Trent.

Despite the physical separation, the contact between Williams and the girl persisted. The victim displayed a photograph taken during their stay in Rhyl in her bedroom, which her mother later saw. The mother, concerned about the age of Williams, who appeared older than her daughter, raised her worries with the police. She believed her daughter was in contact with a boy of similar age, but her concerns about Williams’s appearance prompted further investigation.

Police intervened when they became aware of the situation. They seized the girl’s mobile phone and launched an investigation. It was subsequently revealed that Williams was already on bail for separate offences involving two other underage girls he had met online. His bail conditions prohibited any unsupervised contact with females under 18, yet he continued to engage with minors.

Williams was arrested and charged with multiple offences. He pleaded guilty to six counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts of abducting a child. The court heard that his actions demonstrated grooming behavior, exploiting the girl’s vulnerability during their interactions.

Judge Paul Glenn sentenced Williams to five years in prison. In addition to the custodial sentence, he imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order to prevent Williams from contacting the victim and to restrict his future interactions with girls and his use of the internet. The judge emphasized the grooming aspect of Williams’s conduct, stating, “It seems quite plain that after the initial contact you groomed her. She was particularly vulnerable at that time.”

This case highlights the dangers of online grooming and the importance of vigilance by parents and authorities to protect minors from exploitation and harm.