A man in his 40s from Halstead has been jailed for several years after admitting to a string of child sex offences involving teenage boys as young as 13.

Dean Carey, of Clovers, was arrested in 2017 and 2019 for exchanging explicit messages with teenage boys.

The 48-year-old exchanged messages with a 13-year-old boy and then in 2019 began speaking to someone who he believed to be a 14-year-old boy. In September 2019, he arranged to meet this boy in Pitsea.

Carey pleaded guilty to multiple offences in March 2020, including causing a child to engage in sexual activity, engaging in sexual communications with a child, attempted sexual communications with a child, facilitating the commission of a child sex offences, breaching a pre-existing Sexual Harm Prevention Order, and three counts of making indecent images if children.

He was sentenced on Thursday, April 16 at Chelmsford Crown Court after pleading guilty to the string of child sex offences.

He was ordered to serve four years in prison, with a further six months on license for causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

Carey has also been given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Speaking after the sentencing, investigating officer Detective Constable Gemma White said: “Carey is a dangerous individual who poses a real risk to children.

“Thanks to the work of numerous teams across the force, including the Police Online Investigation Team and Braintree CID, we were able to get a great result today.

“He will spend a significant amount of time behind bars and will still serve strict conditions when released on license.”