A Snapchat paedophile who targeted girls from as far away as America has been jailed for two decades.
Mark Dodds relentlessly preyed on and groomed the children for nearly a decade during which time he subjected his victims to horrific trauma, coercing them into performing sex acts and blackmailing them if they refused. His offending came to light when Durham Constabulary were notified by another police force that he was having sexual contact over snapchat with a 12-year-old child.
Using his Snapchat account, Dodds incited the victim to carry out sexual acts whilst on live video calls to him. He recorded these calls without the knowledge of the victim and threatened to distribute the recordings if the victim did not send more.
During the investigation, detectives found that Dodds had incited numerous girls from across the UK and America. It also became clear that he had sexually assaulted one of his victims six times and had recorded the offences on his mobile.
Almost 40,000 indecent images were recovered from his devices. On arriving at his Spennymoor address to arrest him in 2023, officers found that Dodds was naked, live streaming indecent images of children on his laptop in his living room.
He pleaded guilty to 58 charges for a range of serious crimes including causing and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and taking indecent images of children. But he pleaded not guilty to six counts of sexual assaults on a child, with a jury finding him guilty of all six in just 11 minutes following a trial last year.
He was remanded into custody until sentencing at Newcastle Crown Court on Monday, where the 38-year-old was handed a 20-year prison sentence with an additional six years’ extended licence. He will also be subject to further court orders and remain on the Sex Offenders’ Register indefinitely.
The officer in charge of the investigation, Detective Sergeant Lorraine Medd from South Durham CID and formerly South Durham Safeguarding Unit said: “Mark Dodds is a manipulative and dangerous serial offender who poses a high risk to children. He relentlessly preyed upon and groomed children, subjecting his victims to horrific trauma, and coercing them in to situations and performing acts for his pleasure.
“Where they showed fear or unwillingness, he would cause them to fear for their safety and at times their lives. Dodds is devious and depraved and showed no remorse during the progression of the investigation, continuing to offend whilst already under investigation for similar offences.”
DS Medd said the investigation had been lengthy and complex. “I personally want to thank everyone involved in the investigation team for their hard work, dedication and for working tirelessly to identify, locate and safeguard a multitude of victims, along with ultimately bringing Dodds to justice,” she said.
“On behalf of the full team, I would also like to personally thank our victims and witnesses involved in this case, they have been central to the success of this investigation. They have co-operated at great emotional cost and carried themselves with courage and dignity throughout the whole process. Due to their age at the time, many of the victims didn’t realise they had been subjected to a crime until we visited them, and this has been incredibly distressing for them to come to terms with.
“Without their strength and determination, we would have been unable to achieve this sentence and hopefully this is now closure for them, and they can start their journey to recover from what has been a living nightmare.”
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