Man, 68, jailed for child sex offences

A 68-year-old man has been jailed for more than five years after he pleaded guilty to multiple child sex offences.

On June 28, 2021, Michael Ian Cox met a 15-year-old girl in Northampton and drove her to Essex where he touched her inappropriately multiple times over a nine-day period.

On the journey home, Cox was stopped by police officers on the M1 near junction 15 in his red Toyota vehicle and the girl, who was also inside the car at the time, was safeguarded.

She would later go on to tell police that Cox had kissed her, touched her inappropriately, and repeatedly attempted to coax her into having sex with him.

Numerous messages of a sexual nature were also found on Cox’s mobile phone, and despite knowing that the girl was only 15 and of school age, he repeatedly told her that he loved her.

At the end of one of his inappropriate messages, he wrote “delete this message”.

Cox was arrested and later charged with two counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of sexual communication with a child.

He was also charged with possession with intent to supply Class B drugs and possession of cannabis after police found canisters in the back seat of his car containing the drug.

Cox pleaded guilty to the offences at Northampton Crown Court in November, returning to the same court earlier this month (December 11) where he was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison.

He was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) which will last for 10 years.

Lead investigator - Detective Constable Andrew Scott said: “I am pleased to see Michael Cox jailed for these offences and I would like to thank the young woman in this case for her support throughout our investigation.

“She has been very courageous during what has been a very lengthy process so I hope the fact that this case has now concluded provides her with a little bit of comfort and some closure.

“Cox was more than 50 years older than this girl. He knew her age, he knew she still went to school, and yet he continued not only to touch her inappropriately, but to try and persuade her to have sex with him. 

“I am glad he is now behind bars and I want to reassure the wider community that we will continue working hard to put more people like him in the same place.”