A Lynn man who admitted more than 90 sex crimes against boys today received a 33-year extended sentence this afternoon.
David Nicholas Wilson’s victims described him as “a pathetic pedophile” and said he should not be able to walk the streets of Lynn during the hearing at Ipswich Crown Court.
And prosecutors said he may have committed crimes against hundreds of children.
Wilson, 36, of Kirstead, Fairstead, pleaded guilty to a total of 96 crimes at a previous hearing.
They included blackmail, arranging or facilitating the sexual exploitation of a child, causing or inciting children to engage in sexual activities or leading children to watch sexual acts.
Judge Rupert Overbury sentenced him to 25 years in prison, of which he will serve at least two-thirds before his case can be considered by the Probation Council, plus eight more years on leave.
He said to him, “You have run a long, pre-mediated campaign of sadistic and manipulative abuse.
“Any normal human being hearing this case would be surprised at the level of depravity involved.
“You are, in my opinion, an extremely dangerous individual. You can be described as a serial pedophile.”
Previously, the court heard statements from several of Wilson’s victims and their families about the impact of his offense on their lives.
One said he felt suicidal, adding: “From now on, the world will know that David Wilson is a pathetic pedophile.”
Several parents of victims said they felt they had failed their children.
And another said that Wilson “shouldn’t be allowed to walk the streets of King’s Lynn again.”
Prosecutor Catherine Farrelly told the court that Wilson had contacted his victims using several fake Facebook profiles, in which he pretended to be a teenager.
He encouraged them to send indecent images of themselves to him and often asked for more photos and videos of his brothers, threatening to expose his images more widely if they refused.
When the victims blocked a profile, other people contacted them demanding that they reverse the action.
And in some cases, Wilson even ignored the victims’ warnings that they were considering taking their own lives because of their behavior.
The court was informed that the first sign of Wilson’s activity came in August 2017, when one of the fake accounts was linked to a cell phone that he was spotted on CCTV buying a recharge voucher at a Lynn store.
He was arrested shortly thereafter and a phone used to control accounts was seized.
But it was more than two years before National Crime Agency detectives received material from the United States authorities, including the FBI, which indicated the full extent of Wilson’s offense.
Miss Farrelly said the archives contained more than 250,000 separate messages.
She added: “The defendant is thought to have contacted more than 5,000 children through these profiles and more than 500 have sent images to the defendant.”
The court heard that Wilson was arrested on two more occasions. In the last one, he threw a cell phone into the toilet.
Judge Overbury said this shows Wilson’s lack of empathy and remorse for his crimes.
Simon Clare, attenuating, said his client, who appeared in court via a Norwich Prison video link, was unclear why the prosecution declared these figures.
But he emphasized that Wilson took full responsibility for the offenses he admitted.
He added: “He opened up to the parole officer who was preparing the report on his own experiences of child sexual abuse.
“But he did not seek to blame these experiences, or any of his other life experiences, for his own behavior.