A MAN is set to appear in court charged with nearly 40 offences as part of an investigation into alleged child abuse, grooming and blackmail.

Matthew Clarke, 22, was arrested after officers executed a warrant in Colchester, in November last year.

The arrest followed an investigation undertaken by the Essex Police's new child sexual exploitation proactive investigation team.

Clarke, of Delamere Road, Colchester, is charged with:

  • One count of sexual assault by penetration
  • One count of sexual assault
  • Five counts of inciting a child to engage in penetrative sexual activity
  • 10 counts of inciting a child to engage in non-penetrative sexual activity
  • Three counts of sexual activity with a child
  • Five counts of causing a child to watch a sexual act
  • One count of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child
  • Four counts of engaging in sexual communication with a child
  • One count of meeting a child following grooming
  • Six counts of possession of indecent images of children
  • One count of blackmail.

He is set to appear at Colchester Magistrates’ Court today.

A police spokesman said: "The CSE Proactive Investigation Team was formed earlier this year and deals with both reactive and proactive investigations that have been referred by partners or from other teams within Essex Police.

"They take on both new and older referrals where conventional safeguarding tactics have been previously unsuccessful.

"They deal with the most complex and difficult criminal investigations involving the sexual exploitation of children."