MATTHEW DABBS OF STOCKTON SENTENCED FOR CHILD SEX OFFENSES AND MASSIVE IMAGE COLLECTION AT TEESSIDE
In August 2017, Matthew John Dabbs, a convicted paedophile from Stockton, was sentenced to prison after a court hearing at Teesside Crown Court.Dabbs had previously admitted to cause or incite a teenage girl to engage in sexual acts, as well as to sexual activity with a child.
He also pleaded guilty to producing indecent photographs of children as young as four.
Prosecutor Adrian Dent informed the court that the teenage victim, described as very vulnerable, had a mental age of just eight.
She was groomed by Dabbs via a messaging app from May 2016 until his arrest in April 2017.
Dent explained that police seized Dabbs' computer equipment, revealing a transcript of explicit chats spanning 1,200 pages on A4 paper.
The victim’s mother stated in a court statement: “She functions at the age of an eight-year-old.
She is very trusting – if an adult says something then that’s it for her.
She feels like she’s being punished despite our assurances that she is not.
She is struggling to find an appropriate way to vent her emotion.
This has had a huge impact on our entire family.” Analysis of Dabbs’ computer and iPhone uncovered a total of 12,563 indecent images of children, some as young as four.
Of these, 1,021 were classified in the most serious category of law.
Judge Simon Bourne-Arton expressed strong disapproval of Dabbs’ conduct, highlighting his lack of remorse.
He stated: “Over a period of at least a year, you groomed this young girl.
She was particularly vulnerable – a fact you understood and took advantage of.
You may have suffered from depression yourself – your disadvantage in that respect is nothing when compared to hers.
You incited her to carry out sexual activity.” The judge also criticized Dabbs for remarks made during his probation interview, where he claimed that the victim had badgered him and called her a nuisance.
The judge clarified: “You said that it was the victim who badgered you.
You said she was a nuisance.
You failed to see her as a child.
You knew perfectly well she was vulnerable.
She didn’t badger you.
You were grooming her.” Addressing the mass of indecent images found, the judge emphasized the harm caused: “This is not a victimless crime.
Children are subjected to appalling abuse so that men like you can obtain perverted pleasure from watching them – and here the children were as young as four.” Dabbs, residing at Parliament Walk in Stockton, was sentenced to six years in prison.
Additionally, a sexual harm prevention order was imposed, and he will be a registered sex offender for life.
