A man from the West Midlands has been jailed for a number of child sex offences.

Corey Anderson, 50, from Castle Street in Tipton, was sentenced on Friday 10 March at Ipswich Crown Court to six years and 10 months in prison after being found guilty by a jury at a hearing in February of sexual activity with a child, meeting a child following a sexual grooming, sexual communication with a child and child abduction.

Anderson was also handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

He first met the victim online in 2018 and continued to communicate with her online until the summer of 2020 when he arranged to meet her when she was aged 15. He met with the victim in Suffolk before taking her back to his home address in West Midlands.

Police located Anderson and the victim after the teenager had been reported missing by her family who had raised concerns that she was with Anderson.

Anderson was stopped while in a vehicle with the victim. He was arrested and brought back to Suffolk and taken to Bury St Edmunds Police Investigation Centre for questioning, before being charged.

Detective Constable Sam Chandler said: “The defendant in this case poses a significant risk to children.

“Throughout the trial he insisted his motivations were purely honourable, in that he was concerned for the welfare of the child to whom he was not related. However, the evidence in this case proved that he had been in communication with the vulnerable child since she was 12 years old and that he had groomed her over a three-year period, before abducting her and sexually assaulting her at his home, all for his own sexual gratification.

“The sentence sends a clear message to other potential perpetrators of child sex abuse; this kind of offending will not be tolerated, and Suffolk Constabulary will investigate all such matters carefully and thoroughly in order to bring these perpetrators to justice and to protect the most vulnerable within our society.

“The victim in this case and her family have shown immense courage and strength in telling their story, engaging with the police investigation and the ensuing trial and I hope in time the victim can heal from the harm that was inflicted upon her at such a young age.

“The sentence today reinforces why we do this job, to protect the vulnerable.”

The Suffolk police website contains useful guidance and information for parents, guardians, professionals and children to help safeguard them from harm www.suffolk.police.uk/advice/child-protection.