Paedophile wanted to watch man rape granddaughter

Warning: This story contains details some may find distressing

A paedophile who wanted to video call and watch a 10-year-old girl being raped by her grandfather has been jailed for nine years.

Christopher Lumley, 38, was already under investigation after the FBI found chats he had with a fellow child sex offender in the USA when he was caught by an undercover officer posing as an abusive grandparent, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Lumley, a lorry driver from Hartlepool, also collected and distributed hundreds of some of the "worst" images of children being raped and sexually abused online.

He admitted offences including arranging the commission of a child sex offence and making and distributing indecent images of children.

Cleveland Police were alerted to Lumley by the National Crime Agency in March following an investigation by the FBI, prosecutor Caoimhe Bicknell said.

When officers arrived at his house, he said he knew why they had come and he had "messed up", the court heard.

Investigators found more than 700 "extremely disturbing" indecent images of children, including babies and toddlers, on his phone, about 370 of which were in the most serious category, the court heard.

He was also found to have distributed about 540 images online including 252 in the most grave category, Bicknell said, while in chats he had been discussing raping children aged zero to 12.

Having been released on bail, Lumley went back online, downloaded and shared hundreds more images and contacted a man called Tony on a Russian website known for being used by child sex abusers, the court heard.

Tony was actually an undercover police officer posing as a man who had been abusing his granddaughter for two years, beginning when she was eight, the court heard.

After chatting, Lumley arranged to video call Tony and watch while he raped the girl, the court heard, having sent the officer bondage-related images to give him "ideas".

Lumley was arrested again in August and it was found he had made more than 3,000 visits to the website where he met Tony, Bicknell said.

Officers also found he had 1,180 indecent images of children, about 250 of which he had distributed to others online, the court heard.

Judge Deborah Sherwin said it was "particularly worrying" Lumley had gone on to commit more serious child sex offences after being arrested and released on police bail.

She said his collection contained images of the "most serious depravity that can be imagined" and were "some of the worst" to come before the court.

The judge said any "right-minded" people would consider Lumley's actions to be "disgusting".

Lumley must also sign the sex offender register and comply with a Sexual Harm Prevention order indefinitely.

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