by A convicted pedophile was jailed after exchanging thousands of horrible messages with a child rapist about sexual abuse, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
Paul Pickerill, 66, encouraged Vicki Bevan, 37, who was incarcerated for life in May for the systematic abuse of a girl under the age of 10, to commit crimes against a child under the age of 13.
Police found they discussed assaults, injuries and sexual abuse of children after they seized Pickerill’s phone while he was being investigated for other sex offenders in April 2021.
On this and other devices, the agents also found 141 indecent images and videos of children.
Pickerill, of Runcorn, Cheshire, was interviewed in the Doncaster prison about messages with Bevan before being arrested and charged.
On 25 August, he pleaded guilty in Chester Crown Court to intentionally encouraging Bevan to commit penetrating crimes against children under the age of 13 which he continued to commit.
He was sentenced to 10 years on Friday, with another five years of leave, the CPS said.
It is also subject to a Lifetime Sexual Injury Prevention Ordinance and will remain on the Lifetime Sex Offender Registry.
Bevan, of St Helens, Merseyside, was jailed alongside Paul Rafferty, 62, and Tony Hutton, 42, at Liverpool Crown Court in May for abusing a young girl over a two-year period from 2019 to 2021.
Judge Andrew Menary KC told her she had to serve a minimum of 10 years before being considered for probation and convicted her of having “shockingly depraved” fantasies.
She pleaded guilty to rape, five counts of assaulting a child under the age of 13 by penetration, two counts of sexual assaulting a child under the age of 13, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity , making indecent images, three counts for distributing indecent photographs of a child and two counts for possession of extreme pornographic material.
Senior Crown Attorney Pauline Newrick, of CPS Mersey Cheshire, said, “This was a very distressing case for the entire prosecution team as there were communications between Pickerill and Bevan that no one should have read.
“The content of those messages clearly shows the extent to which Pickerill was prepared to encourage another person to sexually abuse very young children.
“Bevan herself was convicted and convicted because of these messages and others that came to light.
“Without authors like Pickerill, who empower other pedophiles, child abuse would not be as widespread. I am delighted that such a substantial sentence has been imposed on him. His imprisonment will undoubtedly protect other possible victims from this terrible abuse ”.
