Man sentenced to 19 years for online grooming offences against children
An appeal against a 19 and a half year prison sentence given to a Romanian man for online grooming offences against children has been rejected.
Cristian Ciprian Nae, 39, was sentenced when he appeared before the Ialomita Tribunal in Romania on 22 March 2017 following a joint investigation by Surrey Police detectives and the National Crime Agency.
In 2015 Surrey Police began an investigation into Nae, who was believed to be grooming children over the internet. The initial child victim was from Surrey but during the course of the investigation, officers uncovered a further nine children in other parts of the UK and Ireland who had also fallen victim to the same offender.
The man was operating from Romania and using a social media gaming website to make contact with his victims, who were aged between 8 and 12 years, before attempting to incite them to engage in sexual activity.
Once it was discovered that the offender was operating from Romania, the National Crime Agency enabled their officer based in Romania to work with Surrey Police to progress the investigation with the Romanian authorities.
Investigating officer Detective Constable Paul Harris said: “The fact that the sentence has been upheld demonstrates the gravity of these offences. Nae has used a social media gaming website to target young children and attempt to engage them in sexual activity, and the lengths that he went to, to deceive and target his victims is deplorable. I hope that the outcome provides some consolation to his victims.”
DC Harris continued: “As well as working closely with the NCA, the operators of the gaming site were pivotal in providing the information to identify further victims, closing the offender’s accounts as fast as they were identified, and providing valuable evidence in the case.”
DC Harris added: “Surrey Police treats all allegations of abuse extremely seriously and I would encourage anyone who has concerns about a child being groomed to report it to us. By one individual coming forward in this case, we were able to uncover several connected victims, so if you’re concerned please report it to us.”
If you have concerns about your child using the internet or want to know more about staying safe online please visit the Surrey Police website https://surrey.police.uk/advice/protect-yourself-and-others/staying-safe-online/
