Woman 'liked the attention' she got for sharing child sex abuse videos online

A woman who "liked the attention" she received for sharing videos and pictures of child sex abuse online has been jailed.

Sonia Chivers, 29, from Driffield, East Yorkshire, was arrested by National Crime Agency officers in December 2020, a month after she joined an online group for those with a sexual interest in children aged four and under.

Police said Chivers had been discussing her plans to abuse a child online before she was arrested.

Officers seized her phone and found two videos of Chivers performing a sex act in front of a child and an indecent image of a child which she herself had taken.

She pleaded guilty to one count of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child under 13, as well as two counts each of making and distributing indecent images of children.

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She was sentenced at Hull Crown Court on Monday to three years and four months in prison.

Chivers was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

When interviewed by police after her arrest, Chivers said she did not know how she ended up in the online group, but stayed because she liked the attention given to her by other users.

She admitted to sending one of the videos and the photo of the child via private chats, and that, in doing so, she had "fed these predators".

Hazel Stewart from the National Crime Agency said: “Sonia Chivers claimed she generated child abuse material as she liked the attention, and in her own words, she 'fed' the demand for this content by sharing it with others.

“This, in addition to engaging in very explicit online conversations about the sexual abuse of children, is behaviour that encourages others to commit abuse themselves and puts children in danger.

“Identifying, arresting and bringing to justice those who pose a sexual threat to children is a top priority for the NCA.

"We work with a range of partners within law enforcement to ensure offenders are disrupted and children are safeguarded.”