Wiltshire Police
An 18-year-old childcare worker has been sentenced to seven years prison after sexually abusing two children under her care.
Sophie Elms, from Wiltshire, Southwest England, was jailed after admitting to molesting two sisters, aged just two and three, when she was 17.
The attacks did not occur at the childcare centre, however the Judge Jason Taylor acknowledged Elms had breached the trust bestowed on her by the girl’s parents.
Elms, who is now aged 18, is thought to be one of the youngest convicted paedophiles in the United Kingdom, according to Wiltshire Police.
She carried out the assaults after being contacted by a sex offender online, who encouraged her to abuse the two girls and send him photographs.
The male – David Gearing – was jailed for 15 years, according to News.com.au.
Elms pleaded guilty to 16 offences, including sexual assault and taking and distributing indecent photographs of children.
The offences occurred between December 2016 and March 2018 when Elms was aged 17.
The father of the two girls said in a victim impact statement that Elms had ‘completely destroyed our lives’
‘We honestly do not know the full extent of damage you have left on our two beautiful babies,’ he added.
The judge also acknowledged that Elms had been ‘targeted and exploited’ herself by the man who encouraged the abuse.
‘To lay all the responsibility at his door is misleading and, in my opinion, wrong,’ he said.
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