Convicted Sex Offender Jailed Again for Grooming Child Online

A convicted sex offender has been jailed again after he was found using his phone to send explicit messages to a child.

David Knight, formerly of East Malling, used social media apps to befriend the young boy and made repeated attempts to meet the victim alone.

Knight, 46, was previously sentenced in 2005 to more than six years' imprisonment for offenses relating to the sexual abuse of children. He was convicted under his former name of David Thomas and added to the sex offenders register for life.

Upon his release from prison, he changed his name to David Knight and became the subject of new allegations made to Kent Police in August 2022. An investigation established Knight had been communicating with a child by using internet platforms including TikTok.

Posting under the profile name of FireKnight2017, he sent several inappropriate and explicit messages and expressed a desire to be with the child alone. Knight was arrested on 16 August.

A police analysis of his phone found searches on the internet including 'nude junior archives' and 'kids' nudists chase game'.

He was charged with attempting to meet a child following grooming and with failing to comply with a notification requirement (relating to the sex offenders register). Knight pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court, where a further offense of engaging in sexual communication with a child was ordered to lie on file.

On Tuesday 19 March 2024, Knight, of no fixed address, was jailed for four years and one month. He will have to serve two-thirds of the sentence before he can apply for parole.

Upon his release from prison, Knight will be the subject of an additional licence period of three years, as well as a sexual harm prevention order and restraining order, both for 10 years.