A man from Ripon has been convicted of nine child sex offences following an investigation by North Yorkshire Police’s Online Abuse and Exploitation Team and the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit (YHROCU).
John Peter Noble, aged 36, of North Street in the city, was given a 14-year sentence to include 10 years in prison and four years on licence.
He was sentenced York Crown Court today (Monday 19 July 2021) after pleading guilty on 1 May 2021.
Warning – Upsetting details of the case to follow:
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The court heard how Noble had engaged online between March and April 2021 and made arrangements to meet with the intention to rape a four-year-old girl.
The offences included arranging to use a sex toy and arranging for a child to urinate in a glass.
Noble attended the pre-arranged meeting location in Ripon on 30 April, where he was arrested by officers from North Yorkshire Police’s Online Abuse and Exploitation Team.
During this investigation, there was never a real-life victim and no children were ever in any danger.
Noble was also charged with breaching conditions of his Sexual Harm Prevention Order by trying to arrange for the four-year-old girl and a baby to stay over at his home.
This was issued to him by York Crown Court on 19 September 2019, for indecent images of children, inciting or causing children to perform sexual acts, and sexual communication with a child offences.
‘A particularly distressing case’
Detective Sergeant Lee Allenby, of the Online Abuse and Exploitation Team, said: “This was a particularly distressing case where Noble, a man who had already been caught by the police and put before the courts just a couple of years ago, had purchased items for a baby as well as sexual items to facilitate the abuse on the four-year-old girl.
“Noble simply could not resist acting on his sexual deviancy towards children. It is frightening to think that he was actively arranging to rape a child.”
DS Allenby added: “This was a successful operation where the extensive and strong collaboration between North Yorkshire Police’s Online Abuse and Exploitation Team and Yorkshire and Humber Regional Organised Crime Unit, ensured Noble was brought to justice.
“It also showed the lengths of depravity that Noble would go to conduct child sex abuse.
“A long custodial sentence is a pleasing outcome in this case, and it sends a stark warning to other paedophiles who think they can operate with impunity online.”
Detective Inspector Marie Bulmer, from YHROCU, said: “This forms part of our continued priority to protect children from sexual exploitation from those who seek to do them harm.
“Law enforcement operates across the internet, and we will relentlessly seek to bring to justice individuals who use the web to facilitate the abuse of children.
“If anyone has been a victim of child sexual abuse, I urge you to report it to your local police force via 101. We will always follow up allegations of abuse, no matter when they occurred. Victims can talk in confidence to experienced investigators and we can also help them get access to a range of other support services.”