Yorkshire man jailed after logging onto Zoom call to watch horrific child abuse

Nigel Coxon, of Huddersfield, was jailed for two-and-a-half years following an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA).

The NCA said the 55-year-ld logged onto a Zoom call to watch pre-recorded abuse in August 2017, before joining a breaking room where indecent images and videos of children were being streamed.

Some of the images and videos he watched involved the abuse of boys and girls aged between three and 15. During the Zoom calls, he posted a number of comments talking about his sexual interest in young girls.

He was arrested at his Somerset Road home in October 2017, and NCA officers seized his mobile phone.

On the device, they found evidence that the Zoom application had been downloaded but had since been deleted.

There was also evidence Coxon had been on a website used to check public facing IP addresses to check that his had been hidden before to accessing Zoom.

When interviewed, he denied ever using Zoom, claimed that his home Wi-Fi network had been hacked. However, he did admit having a sexual interest in girls under 10.

Coxon was charged with four counts of making category A and B indecent images of children and convicted at Leeds Nightingale Court on March 7 this year following a six-day trial.

He was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment and made subject of a 10 year Sexual Harm Prevention Order at Leeds Crown Court today (31 May). He will also be placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

NCA operations manager Neil Baxter said: “Nigel Coxon took significant steps in an attempt to remain anonymous and cover up his criminality.

“He also made cynical claims about being hacked, but our investigators were able to prove without question that it was Coxon viewing this material on Zoom and telling complete strangers about his sexual interest in young girls.

“Behind every one of the videos he viewed was a victim of horrific abuse. The NCA will never relent in bringing offenders like Coxon to justice, nor protecting children from the worst abusers.”