MICHAEL PINKNEY CAUGHT IN STOCKTON CHILD SEX OFFENDER SCANDAL
In a disturbing case that has shocked the Stockton community, Michael Pinkney was exposed as a convicted sex offender after engaging in online conversations with what he believed was a 12-year-old girl.The incident unfolded in April of the previous year when Pinkney, thinking he was communicating with a young girl, exchanged explicit messages and sent indecent images, unaware that he was actually speaking with a police officer operating in an online chat room.
According to court proceedings at Teesside Crown Court in Middlesbrough, law enforcement officials had infiltrated a children's chat room where Pinkney was actively participating.
During the investigation, authorities tracked his digital footprint and examined his electronic devices.
The evidence revealed that Pinkney possessed a collection of indecent photographs of children, some of which he was found to have shared via the Kik messaging platform.
Pinkney, who resides on Doncaster Crescent in Stockton, pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including engaging in sexual communication with a minor, distributing indecent images of children, and attempting to induce a child to view sexual activity.
He also admitted to three counts of making indecent images of children, categorized as A, B, and C, with Category A being the most severe classification.
During the sentencing hearing, Judge Paul Watson QC emphasized the gravity of Pinkney’s actions, particularly highlighting the harm caused to the children depicted in the images.
The judge pointed out that the distribution of such images inflicts significant emotional distress and can have long-lasting psychological effects on the victims.
While Pinkney had not physically contacted any children, the court acknowledged the seriousness of his online offenses.
Judge Watson noted that Pinkney had no prior criminal record and expressed concern that a custodial sentence would be particularly harsh for him.
Nonetheless, he sentenced Pinkney to 16 months in prison and imposed a sexual harm prevention order to restrict his future conduct.
The case serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing threat posed by online predators and the importance of vigilant law enforcement efforts to protect vulnerable children in Stockton and beyond.
Update 05/09/2025 A "dangerous" paedophile has been given an extended sentence after a judge deemed he poses a risk of causing further serious harm.
Michael Pinkney was caught engaging in sexual chats with five teen girls while telling them he was 16.
Police also found 63,000 images of sexual abuse of children aged eight months to ten-years-old on his phone.
Teesside Crown Court heard on Wednesday that he had also breached a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).
This was imposed in 2020 when he was convicted of offences including attempting to engage in sexual contact with a child, attempting to cause a child under 13 to watch sexual acts and watching indecent images of children.
For those offences he was given a 16-month jail term and made the subject of the indefinite SHPO.
Two years later his risk offender manager carried out a search at his home and found a secret, undisclosed iPhone under his duvet.
It had numerous accounts for Snapchat, Kik and TikTok which had not been registered.
In February 2024, he was sentenced to 18-months imprisonment for breaching the SHPO by possessing the undisclosed device and failing to register the user names.
However the court heard that there was a delay in downloading the evidence from the phone due to "an enormous backlog" which led to the delay in bringing those matters to court.
The judge, Recorder Paul Reid, said it was unfortunate that all the matters were not all dealt with at the same time.
Investigators found Pinkney had sent messages to children on Snapchat requesting images of them, claiming he was 16.
In one case he asked a teen girl to send photos of her backside and he sent her pictures of his genitals The offences against the young girls occurred between June and September 2023 but the indecent images had been downloaded from as far back as 2017, the court heard.
Pinkney, who appeared at the hearing via video link from Holme House Prison in Stockton, pleaded guilty to 13 offences.
These consisted of five counts of sexual communications with children, three counts of making indecent images of children and five counts of breaching his SHPO.
Kate Barnes, defending, noted this offending pre-dated his last prison sentence.
She told the court, after Pinkney was released on licence, he had not reoffended, had stopped taking drugs and drinking and was making progress.
Recorder Reid noted a report suggested he had engaged well with the probation service, but was "not able to maintain his commitment to remaining offence-free in the longer term".
Regarding the indecent images, he told Pinkney viewing them fuels the "cycle of exploitation" of child victims.
"It is difficult to comprehend the depravity, not only of the people who create and distribute these images, but also of anyone, such as yourself, who views them," he said.
"These images show appalling sexual abuse of very young children, including rape and violence.
"What people in your position do not seem to recognise is that every viewing of one of these images of disgusting abuse is a further victimisation, a further abuse, of the child in question.
I do have to consider the issue of dangerousness and that is whether there is a significant risk of you committing further specified offences and, if so, whether there is a serious risk of you causing serious harm thereby.
"I'm satisfied that you do present such a risk because of the repeated nature of your offending, the seriousness of these offences and the aggravating features and the content of the pre-sentence report." He gave Pinkney, 27, of Chester Road, Sunderland, and previously of Stockton, an extended prison sentence which consists of 40 months in prison and three years on extended licence.
Pinkney must also register as a sex offender indefinitely.
