Flint man jailed for child sex offences and online grooming

A paedophile from Flint who admitted more than 20 child sexual offences has been jailed for 12 years.

Philip Bell, 52, of Bryn Road, Flint, appeared at Mold Crown Court, where he was sentenced after a major investigation revealed he had communicated with large numbers of children online.

Bell was convicted of grooming, meeting, and engaging in sexual activity with two victims. He also attempted to meet several other children through online platforms and was found in possession of a significant collection of indecent images of children, some of which he had distributed.

The court heard how Bell targeted children via the internet, using grooming tactics to gain their trust before arranging meetings.

In addition to his online activities, his attempts to incite children to engage in sexual activity formed part of the prosecution case.

He was sentenced to a total of 12 years in prison.

That includes 3 years and 4 months for distribution of indecent images, followed by a consecutive term of 8 years and 8 months for the sexual and contact offences.

Further concurrent sentences, totalling four years, were passed for his attempted meetings with children and for inciting sexual activity.

Speaking after sentencing, Detective Constable Mark Griffiths said: “I welcome the sentence passed by the court today, and hope that this serves as a deterrent to others who seek to use the internet as a means to commit such offences.”