Heanor man jailed after encouraging fellow paedophile to abuse children

A man from Heanor has been jailed for ten years after he encouraged a fellow paedophile to abuse young children and share indecent images of them.

Jason Wardle admitted communicating with a, now convicted, child abuser from London and commissioning him to sexually abuse a young girl and boy (both of whom were under the age of 7). This included the sending on of indecent images of the crimes taking place, in July 2020.

Wardle, of Derby Road, Marlpool, was also found to have thousands of indecent images of children on his electronic devices, hundreds of which were of Category A – which is the most extreme category of indecent images.

The 38-year-old also breached the terms of a previous Sexual Harm Prevention order by deleting his internet usage history and accessing a social media platform which he was banned from under the order.

Officers initially arrested Wardle in September 2020 after a Metropolitan Police investigation into a Hackney paedophile uncovered communications with a Derbyshire IP address, which was traced to Wardle’s place of work.

An app was also found on Wardle’s phone which showed him engaging in conversations about sexually abusing children whilst he was on bail. He was arrested again in relation to this in August 2021.

During this investigation indecent images, which had also been accessed during Wardle’s bail period, were found on a laptop.

Wardle was sentenced at Derby Crown Court on 9 June and the judge confirmed that he must serve at least two thirds of the ten-year prison term.

 After his release he will also remain under supervision on an extended licence for a period of two years.