Yorkshire woman jailed after taking indecent photos of child and sending them to her boyfriend

Toni Andrews, 23, was snared by the National Crime Agency (NCA) after the conviction of her then-boyfriend Thomas Edeson, 24, of Franklin Street in Hull. Franklin was jailed for two years in August 2021 for sexually assaulting a young girl and taking indecent images of her.

Now Andrews, who is from Hull but is currently of no fixed abode, has been jailed for 16 months after admitting four charges. She will also be required to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years after admitting having more than 800 illegal images and videos, including hundreds showing child sexual abuse.

She had pleaded guilty to a total of seven charges at an earlier court hearing, including taking indecent photographs of a child, possession of indecent images of children and possession of extreme pornography.

The NCA investigation into Edeson

began in May 2021 with a referral from the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which was notified by Google of his attempt to upload child sexual abuse images to the internet.

After examining his electronic devices, officers discovered sexual images of a child which appeared to have been taken by Andrews and sent to Edeson.

Andrews was arrested in connection with the investigation in December 2021.

She admitted to NCA officers she had taken and sent one of the photos to Edeson, but said she didn’t know about his sexual interest in children.

However, examination of Andrews’ electronic devices, which were seized from her home when she was arrested, found almost 100 indecent images of children in categories A-C, over 500 prohibited images of children and over 200 showing extreme pornography.

As part of the investigation into Andrews’ offending, Edeson was produced from prison and interviewed by NCA officers. He told them Andrews had supplied him with sexual images of a child as well as children’s underwear, which officers recovered from his home when he was arrested.

Holly Triggs, NCA senior investigating officer, said: “Andrews violated the privacy and innocence of a young girl to service her boyfriend’s sexual interest in children.

“The demand for images and videos of this nature in the UK remains appallingly high, and referrals from organisations like NCMEC are vital to identify offenders. We at the NCA are committed to protecting children from horrific abuse and putting perpetrators before the courts to face justice.”