A Staffordshire man who sent explicit videos of himself and took indecent images of children online has been jailed for 14 years after being charged with more than 20 offences.

Ashley Jepson, 32, of no fixed address, was sentenced at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on Friday 9 January.

He admitted three counts of making an indecent photograph/pseudo photograph of a child, one count of taking an indecent image/pseudo photograph of a child, six counts of engaging in sexual communication with a child, four counts of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, six counts of cause/incite a girl to engage in sexual activity and one count of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

This follows after a report was made to Cheshire Police in September 2024, that a TikTok user had sent explicit videos of himself to two survivors.

He also asked them to send explicit videos of themselves back to him.

A spokesperson from Staffordshire Police said: "When it was established that the account belonged to Jepson, we started investigating given he lived in Staffordshire.

"When he was arrested, we seized Jepson's phone. We found a catalogue of indecent images of children on there from all over the UK."

Staffordshire Police explained that in his first interview, he denied any knowledge of the offences and in his second one, he answered no comment to all questions.

The spokesperson from Staffordshire Police added: "Officers from our Police Online Investigations Team (POLIT) worked tirelessly to identify the survivors and to speak to them as part of the investigation, eventually building the evidence needed to charge Jepson with more than 20 offences."

Detective Constable Meghann Ferneyhough, from POLIT, said: "Jepson's offending was widespread and I'm pleased that we've been able to take another dangerous sex offender off the streets.

"Our team are working relentlessly every single day in Staffordshire to identify those committing sexual offences online and to support survivors as much as possible."