The man,in his 30s, and cannot be named to protect the victims pleaded guilty to multiple charges in March 2023 as he faced the mountain of evidence secured by the team since he was first arrested in January 2022.

Yesterday he was jailed for 18 years and handed a further five years on licence. The judge also categorised him as a ‘Dangerous Offender’ due to the grave risk he poses to children, and placed him on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.

The man, who is in his 30s, first came to the attention of officers after he posted prohibited images online. After tracing the images back to him, a warrant was executed at his address and a number of electronic devices were seized. It was only when a detective constable conducted scrupulous searches of those devices that she uncovered the full extent of his depravity – with pictures showing him sexually abusing his three young children.

Sharing more on the investigation, DI Lee Wilson said: “The officer assigned to this case, DC Jess Hawley, conducted a meticulous analysis of this man’s devices which uncovered hidden folders and files which could have quite easily gone unnoticed had it not been for her instinct that there was more to this case.

“Due to the children’s incredibly young ages, they were unable to tell anyone what had happened to them. Our work focused heavily on comparing pictures of scenes and clothing”.

On 2 March 2023, the offender pleaded guilty to a total of 22 sex offences including rape of a child under 13, sexual activity with a child, sexual assault of a child and making indecent images of children, with the age of children pictured ranging from one to 14-years-old.