Mark Dodds Jailed For 20 Years After Grooming Girls Online

Mark Dodds, a 38-year-old sex offender from Heather Grove, Spennymoor, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for his crimes against ten young girls.

Dodds was convicted of 60 offenses involving sexual grooming and blackmailing young girls aged 12 to 13, with one victim as young as nine. He used the messaging app Snapchat to exploit these vulnerable individuals, coercing them into performing sex acts on camera and threatening to distribute the footage if they refused to comply.

Dodds' manipulative tactics involved creating false online identities to deceive his victims into believing they were communicating with teenage boys or girls. He escalated his abuse by demanding increasingly explicit content and threatened to share it with their families and friends.

The court heard that Dodds persisted in his criminal behavior despite confronting him, even continuing his abuse after being told one victim was grieving the loss of her father. His actions have had a profound psychological impact on his victims, causing lasting trauma and emotional distress.

Dodds's arrest came in 2020, but he continued to offend until November 2023 when police seized his electronic devices containing further evidence of child sexual abuse material. He resisted attempts by officers to access his devices, delaying the investigation and demonstrating his disregard for the law.

The judge described Dodds's actions as "outrageous conduct" and characterized him as "highly dangerous," posing a significant risk to children both online and in person. In addition to his 20-year prison sentence, Dodds will be subject to an extended six-year license period upon release.

He was also placed on a lifelong restraining order prohibiting contact with his victims and made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and registration as a sex offender for life.