Britain’s youngest female paedophile will remain in prison despite reports suggesting otherwise.
It has been incorrectly claimed in reports elsewhere that Sophie Elms, from Royal Wootton Bassett, was set to be released from jail in September.
She was convicted in 2019 at the age of 17 after pleading guilty to charges including sexual assault of a child by penetration, sexual assault of a child by touching, distributing an indecent image of a child, possession of indecent images of a child and possession of extreme pornographic images of an animal.
Recommended reading
- Supermarket uses branded 'police van' to patrol after robberies
- Marco Pierre White Jr admits stealing £1,500 of Jellycat toys in crime spree
- "Huge mistake" helped police catch Balkan drugs gang
At the time, a judge sentenced her to seven years and 10 months behind bars.
After reports suggesting that she may be released early were published online, the Adver contacted the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) for confirmation.
While the MoJ could not provide an exact release date for Elms, it was able to categorically state that any suggestion that she was being released in September was not true, and indicated that she would not be released from prison this year.
The MoJ also confirmed that they had not been contacted by anyone else in order to confirm the details of what was then inaccurately reported.
Elms’ sentence is due to end next year, and, after being released, she will remain on the sex offenders register and be banned from working with children or vulnerable adults.
During her court case, it was revealed that Elms, who was training to be a childcare worker, had been groomed online by disgraced former Metropolitan Police murder squad detective David Geering, who was convicted of taking and distributing child abuse images.
She was also in contact with a man who got 15 years at Bristol Crown Court in 2018, and a respected lawyer who was given 20 years for his role in child sex offences.
Geering and the defendant began communicating with each other in Spring 2017, and when he was arrested, his phone revealed the extent of his contact with her.
Once he realised she had access to young children, he started asking her to send him innocent pictures of them before moving on to more depraved material.
She also forwarded images of abuse which she had not taken but had either found or been given, to other men.
Her defence lawyer said she was keen to please people, having previously been the victim of online grooming on at least four previous occasions.
The court was told that there had been a great deal of input from social services following those incidents, which started when she was 12 or 13 years old.
