A 'prolific' paedophile who was caught as he travelled to meet and sexually abuse a child has been sentenced to ten years in prison. David Chellapah, 31, groomed children as young as 12 on social media, sending sexual messages and pressuring them to engage in sexual activity, the Metropolitan Police said.
He was jailed on Friday at Isleworth Crown Court after pleading guilty to 21 offences related to child sexual abuse. Chellapah coerced and pressured children between 12 and 15 to take sexual pictures and videos. After police searched his house, they found a 'significant volume' of indecent images and videos of children on a USB stick, including some who were 'very young', the Met added.
Officers were tipped off that Chellapah was communicating with a child and trying to meet and sexually abuse them. Police arrested him on October 17 last year when he went to meet a child.
Detective Constable Alan Stepkowski-Fellows from the Met's Central Specialist Crime Command said: 'Chellapah showed clear and persistent predatory behaviour, targeting children online and attempting to escalate that contact into serious harm. Our officers acted quickly to intervene, prevent further offences and bring him before the courts.'
'Safeguarding victims remains our priority. We worked closely with partners to ensure all children were protected and supported, with specialist officers using trauma-informed approaches. We also secured strong digital evidence so victims did not have to attend court.'
'We will continue working with partners to protect children and hold offenders to account.'
Chellapah pleaded guilty to all counts in February, including sexual communication with a child, attempting to meet a child following grooming, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, and offences relating to the production and possession of indecent images of children.
