A paedophile who filmed himself sexually abusing a baby has been jailed for more than 12 years. 

Kieron Barr was arrested at his home in Southend on 25 November last year after information was received that connected him to the distribution of indecent images of children.

Barr’s phone was examined and officers found conversations between him and others where he had distributed images of children including of himself abusing a baby.

Barr, 38, of Southend, was charged and admitted one count of rape, two counts of assault by penetration, three counts of taking an indecent image of a child, and three counts of distributing indecent images of a child.

At Basildon Crown Court today he was jailed for 12 years and six months and he will serve five years on licence.

He was placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life and he is subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for life.

Investigating officer PC Mark Goodchild, from the Child Abuse Investigation Team, said: “Kieron Barr has carried out vile abuse against young and vulnerable children.

“He documented the abuse and then shared it with others online, further exploiting his victims.

“These offences are unthinkable and show just how dangerous an offender Barr is.

“He will now spend a significant time behind bars where he will no longer pose a danger to children.

“I want to praise the courage of those effected by Barr’s crimes. It’s an unimaginable thing to have to go through and I hope this sentence will help the process of moving forward.”

The information about his activities came to light after authorities in Canada intercepted a conversation between Barr and someone else online.

Canadian authorities alerted the National Crime Agency who identified Barr from his online presence and referred the information to our Police Online Investigation Team (POLIT) on 25 November.

POLIT works to protect children from the threat of online offending and targets offenders suspected of making, possessing, and distributing indecent images of children.

Detective Inspector Jo Collins, from POLIT, said: “The work my team does often takes place behind closed doors and away from the public eye but is absolutely crucial to keeping children safe.

“This particular case highlights the effective and collaborative relationship with other agencies as well my team’s ability to quickly identify an offender who posed a high risk to children.

“Due to their diligence we were able to arrest Barr just hours after the information about him came to us.

“Sadly, the online threat against children is growing and the work my team does has never been more important.

“In 2019 we safeguarded 312 children. These are children abusers could have had contact with and that’s nearly one child every day.

“Many children suffer physical and psychological harm from the abuse they’ve suffered, and our intervention is often the first help and support they will have had.

“It’s our job to take away the power from the offender and provide a voice for the victim.”