Paedophile who exploited girls jailed for 11 years

A man who police said had "exploited children for his own personal gain" has been jailed for 11 years.

David Masters, from Birstall, was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court on Monday after being convicted by a trial jury at the same court in November of multiple sexual offences.

The 46-year-old had also previously pleaded guilty to making indecent photographs of children and two counts of distributing indecent images of children.

Officers began investigating Masters in 2024 after receiving a report about a 16-year-old girl who was missing from home, and that had led to a "complex investigation involving multiple victims" and his eventual arrest, a West Yorkshire Police spokesperson said.

As well as his jail term, Masters was told he must sign the sex offenders' register for life and he received a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

He was also given restraining orders against his victims.

One of Masters' victims, who was 17 at the time of the offences, said in her Victim Impact Statement that she was "trying to rebuild my life after what he did".

"But sometimes it feels like I will never get back to normal, and I can never be the person I always wanted to be," she added.

Another of his victims, who was 15 at the time of the offences, said in her Victim Impact Statement: "It feels like the colour has gone from my life and everything has gone grey.

"I don't think about my future now. I feel directionless and like I don't know where I'm going or what I can do."

Following last year's trial, Masters was found guilty of engaging in sexual penetrative activity with a girl, facilitating the sexual exploitation of a child, causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a child and arranging or facilitating the sexual exploitation of a child.

After his sentencing, PC Helena Stroud, from Bradford's Children Vulnerable to Exploitation Team, said: "We welcome the sentence handed down to Masters.

"He is dangerous individual who exploited children for his own person gain."

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