Following a string of horrible online sexual crimes against children all throughout the UK, a HALESOWEN Paedophile Matthew Reilly has been sentenced to prison.
After confessing to 34 sex crimes in February, Matthew Reilly got a nine-year sentence at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Thursday, June 27.
Police started looking at registered sex offender Matthew Reilly last January after finding an offensive picture of a child uploaded to the Snapchat online messaging app.
The picture turned back to an account connected to Matthew Reilly.
At his Halesowen property, police executed a search order, arresting the 39-year-old and snatching his personal devices for study.
When questioned, Matthew Reilly said he texted ladies on Snapchat and that some of his conversations with them had turned sexual.
While police investigated, he was given conditional bail, and his electronics were forensically checked.
Along with details on a Snapchat account Matthew Reilly had used to pass for a 15-year-old boy, police found offensive images of children on his phone.
Further analysis revealed that, between October 2021 and January 2022, the account had been sexually interacting with juveniles aged 11 to 15 for four months.
Authorities’ obtained data also showed Matthew Reilly would meet some of these victims on an online dating site, validate their age, give them sexual compliments, and persuade them he could get them onto the membership platform OnlyFans, where they could profit from sexual material.
Reilly reportedly sent explicit pictures to some of the women, pushing one of them into a sexual act.
Police found forty victims from 27 separate force districts in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland.
Police advised the relevant police departments, who helped to safeguard the children and gathered data to assist our investigation.
Following the revelation of further evidence, Matthew Reilly was once more arrested on September 29, 2022.
Later on he was imprisoned after being accused with 52 charges.
At a February hearing and a prior hearing to 18 counts of sexual communication with a child under 16, one count of causing/inciting a minor to engage in sexual activity, and five counts of forcing a child under 16 to observe a sexual act Reilly entered a guilty plea.
Matthew Reilly also admitted guilt on eight counts of producing an inappropriate image of a child. These comprised six for Category C, one count for Category A—the most severe—one for Category B. He also admitted guilt to two counts of disseminating obscene images of minors ( Category C).
Working on the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Team, Detective Constable Jack Dobbinson said “Matthew Reilly is a dangerous sexual predator who exploited and abused children online.” To gain their trust, he pretended to be a much younger person, then deceived in the most horrific manner.
“I commend the victims and their families for their courage and cooperation during our investigation. I would also wish to thank other force area colleagues for their help.
“I do hope that by seeing him put away all of those affected by Matthew Reilly’s offences can move on with their lives.”
If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this article, then please report those individuals to the Police on 101 (999 if an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details of the options for reporting a crime. You can also make a report at Crimestoppers should you wish to be completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.