A MAN has been jailed after admitting to sex offences, including two counts of rape, sexual assaults on a child and making indecent images.

Ian Story, 55, was sentenced at Bolton Crown Court to 18 years in prison with a further five years on licence after pleading guilty to two counts of oral rape, nine counts of making indecent images of a child, three counts of distributing indecent images of a child and seven counts of sexual assault on a child by touching.

In March 2020 police were alerted to Story having uploaded indecent images of children to the internet. Following a robust investigation, a warrant was executed at Story's home address in the Wigan borough where he was arrested on suspicion of possession of indecent images of children and later released under investigation whilst enquiries continued. A number of devices were also seized by officers.

Examinations of the devices revealed that between 2011 and 2020, he had been creating and storing indecent images and videos of children. Following this revelation, in July 2020, Story was re-arrested on suspicion of Oral rape and several sexual assaults upon children.

During his interview with police, Story admitted to multiple child sex offences and he was remanded in custody. Whilst on remand he was produced from prison and further questioned, to which he admitted to possession and distribution of indecent images of children and a variety of further sexual offences committed upon children.

In total, Story created 24,165 indecent images of children - 904 of which were deemed category A. Of the remainder, 1,466 were deemed category B and 21,975 were classed as category C.

Detective Constable Philip Kelley of GMP’s Wigan Division said: “These offences were heinous and despicable, and I am glad we have been able to take this man off the streets and put him behind bars.

“Story’s abuse was purely for his own perverted sexual gratification and he did not spare a minute’s thought for the devastating and lasting impact crimes such as this can have on the lives of victims.

“Ensuring that victims are safeguarded and offenders are brought to justice is one of GMP’s highest priorities. I hope today’s sentencing serves as a stark reminder that the abuse of children will never be tolerated and you could face a lengthy jail sentence. There are a number of specialist services available to help prevent offending.”