Sick paedophile abused and took secret pictures of kids on Teesside and County Durham

Alexander Slimings, 21 from Wynyard, was branded a “sick monster” by the mother of one of his victims as he was sentenced for a catalogue of “abhorrent” crimes.

He pleaded guilty to 34 child sex offences including sexual assaults on a number of children, plus multiple counts of taking indecent images of youngsters and one count of voyerism.

Slimings, who began viewing online child pornography when he was just 12, took pictures of children often using a ‘spy pen’ device disguised as an ordinary pen, Teesside Crown Court heard.

He also admitted downloading hundreds of indecent images of children from the internet including some of the worst depictions of abuse the sentencing judge said he had ever seen.

The offences occurred between October 2019 and this March, and took place in the Teesside and County Durham areas.

Gut wrenching statements by the parents of the children Slimings abused were read out in court.

One mother said her once happy, innocent child had been left traumatised and too afraid to leave her side.

The parent said: “Children are not safe around him and they never will be.”

Another mother told of the “indescribable pain” when her child revealed the horror of the abuse to her.

And another parent said their child had had their childhood “stolen” from them.

Temporary Detective Chief Inspector Jez Collins, the senior investigating officer in the case, said afterwards: “Slimings’ offences and the details of the investigation were deeply distressing for the victims and their families, and I thank them for their support and remarkable resilience during what has been a very sensitive enquiry.

“I am satisfied that Slimings is now behind bars, where he can no longer prey on those most vulnerable in our society.”

Judge Howard Crowson said Slimings, of Wellington Drive, Wynyard, concealed a “deviant and appalling” sexual interest in children for many years.

Judge Crowson told him: “The harm that you have caused, and which you ask me to believe you now feel remorse about, will last a lifetime.”

Cleveland Police said they take all allegations of such crimes seriously and encourage victims of sexual abuse to come forward and report it.