David Wood, a 37-year-old pedophile, used Fortnite, a game, to manipulate a 14-year-old into falling in love with him.
David reportedly manipulated the schoolgirl after befriending her as they played the game, which is online.
The pedo also sent a number of messages to the girl, asking her to not share the status of their relationship with anyone.
The initial attempts to bring Wood to justice were stopped in November 2019 after the case was dropped in court due to insufficient evidence.
The victim was unwilling to support the prosecution.
But the police unearthed the massages Wood sent to the 14-year-old girl.
Wood, from Waterloo Walk, Sulgrave, was jailed for 16 months for perverting.
2 months after Wood was jailed, the detectives of the case successfully convicted Wood of his crimes after he admitted 2 counts of sexual activity with a child and taking indecent pictures of the child.
He admitted the crimes at a Newcastle Crown Court hearing last month.
After the conviction, the mother of the 14-year-old girl praised the investigators.
In a statement that the mother released, she said:
“It makes me sick to my stomach what he has done. My daughter is still a child – my child – and this man has stolen her childhood after grooming her online. She should have been out playing with friends, having a laugh and a joke, when in fact she has been preyed on by a man who is more than 20 years older than her. He manipulated my daughter – it is disgusting. She claimed she was head over heels in love with him but that is what he made her feel. The control that he had over her, sending her texts urging her to keep quiet, meant she would not talk to police.I’m now incredibly relieved and thankful that David Wood is behind bars, and would like to thank police who have worked incredibly hard – against the odds – to ensure he has been rightly convicted of his crimes. He deserves to be in jail for a long time for the unforgivable things he has done to my daughter and I can sleep easier knowing he is locked up, unable to prey on other vulnerable girls and cause such pain and heartache to their families.”
Wood and the 14-year-old girl met online as the two were playing Fortnite, an online video game, on Xbox in October 2018.
The 2 started to have frequent conversations, which led to frequent invitations.
Wood reportedly invited the 14-year-old girl to his home where they engaged in sexual activity.
Months after the first encounters, the 14-year-old girl confessed to her mother that she had been involved with a sexual relationship with an older man that she met while playing the game.
Wood was questioned by the police.
After the investigation started, Wood sent a number of messages to the 14-year-old girl, urging her to stay quiet.
In November 2019, the pedophile was jailed for perverting the course of justice.
The sexual offense charges brought against him at the Newcastle Crown Court were dropped due to insufficient evidence.
The 14-year-old girl refused to give statements or provide evidence of the crimes.
Unsatisfied with the charges being dropped, the detectives of the case put together another criminal case which resulted in Wood being charged with 2 counts of having sexual activity with a child and one count of taking indecent photographs of a child.
On January 16, 2020, Wood, who is from Waterloo Walk, Sulgrave, admitted all 3 offenses at the Newcastle Crown Court.
He is due to be sentenced on a date that is still to be confirmed.
The mother of the 14-year-old girl says that this case should help other parents be aware of the potential dangers of the internet.
The mother of the girl said:
“I hope this case helps make other parents aware of the potential dangers of the internet – this could so easily happen to other children who come into contact with manipulative adults online. I’m incredibly grateful to Northumbria Police for their investigation, especially to Detective Constable Catherine Gibson who has been a huge support to me throughout the investigation. I now hope my daughter can start to live her life again with Wood behind bars, but I know the damage he has caused her and our family is irreparable. Life will never be the same again.”
Detective Constable Catherine Gibson led the investigation.
Detective Gibson praised the mother of the 14-year-old girl and said that the case highlighted the need for parents to be aware of the dangers of the internet.
Talking about the investigation, Detective Gibson said, “This was a difficult and complex investigation that has lasted more than a year and involved a vulnerable victim who was seduced and manipulated by a much older man.”
Parents should be present with their kids when they’re surfing the internet or playing online video games.