‘Dangerous’ sex offender sentenced to 27 years

A “prolific and terrifying” sex abuser has been sentenced 27 years in jail.

David John Andrews, 55, pleaded guilty to 130 charges of sexual assault at Maghaberry Prison.

The charges – which include attempted rape, threats to kill and inciting children to engage in sexual activity – relate to 47 victims, 46 of whom were children at the time of the crimes.

The judge told the court that much of the details of Andrews’ crimes were “too sad and gruesome to be repeated”.

Andrews must serve a minimum of 13½ years before being eligible for parole.

Downpatrick Crown Court was told that his youngest victim was eight years old and the charge of attempted rape related to a young woman who was severely disabled.

Many of the allegations relate to catfishing – he regularly posed as a young boy and blackmailed children into engaging in sexual activity.

Threats of violence were common and he would sometimes offer money to children for the images.

He used images of some of his victims in exchange for other illegal and pornographic images.

He also pleaded guilty to attempting to arrange child prostitution

Many of the allegations are from 2019 and 2020. Andrews has been on remand for more than four years.

Andrews’ defense barrister told the court that he had complex mental health problems and was self-medicating with cocaine at the time of the offences.

The judge said that Andrews had “calculated and determined” his crime and that the graphic details of the case reflected the “depth of depravity” involved.

One of his victims has spoken to the BBC about her experiences with Andrews.

Claire, not her real name, was 13 years old when Andrews caught her on Instagram and dressed her up, making her think he was 13 too.

Claire said, “At first it was a friendly conversation and then I started getting threats to send the pictures and I ended up sending them.”

She said, “He used to threaten my friends and became very aggressive. As soon as I sent them, things got worse, he was asking for enough passes every day and I was sending them.”

When Claire stopped sending the photos to Andrews he threatened her and promised to share the photos with her friends and school.

“They looked at my school’s followers and friends list and sent them to those people. The photos were then sent to the entire school,” she said.

“It destroyed me, I left school for several months and never fully returned. I was suicidal, self-harming every day. It put a lot of pressure on me, it took a toll on me. Destroyed all family ties, I lost almost everything I had, friends, I blamed myself.”

Claire’s mother has also spoken to the BBC about the crimes against her daughter.

“It makes you feel like you’ve failed as a parent. She was scared in her bedroom and was sending these pictures because he was threatening her and I didn’t know anything, if I could Had I known, I could have intervened,” she said.

“After it all came out we had to set alarms at night to make sure he didn’t do anything to himself. He just blamed himself and blamed himself.”

Claire says Andrews’ actions affected her for years.

Claire said, “Nobody could help me, I was so far out of my mind, I didn’t want help, I felt I deserved what happened to me.”

She waited four years for Andrews to be sentenced: “Taking the case to court has been a long and difficult process. I feel like I’ve been locked up. I go out and have fun like a normal kid. “I can’t have fun,” she said, “I’m constantly waiting for the next phone call to tell me what’s going on.”

“I hope I can finally put a curtain on this part of my life. I’m still not mentally stable, I don’t think I ever will be. I was embarrassed but in the end it’s not your fault , You’re a victim. It took me a long time to think that it wasn’t my fault.”

Claire’s mom has a simple message for other parents.

“As a parent it has been devastating. She will make her own life but it will always be in the background.”

“The only thing I can say to other parents is, check their devices, and if your child comes forward to tell you something, believe every word they say, some people may not believe the story, But every word turned out to be true.”

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