'Dangerous' Witham child sex offender jailed for 10 years
Officers said the level of Chace Wiseman's offending has made this case extremely distressing and traumatic for all those involved
A dangerous sex offender from Witham has been jailed for numerous offences including rape and possession of prohibited images of a child.
At Chelmsford Crown Court on Thursday 29 May Chace Wiseman was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
It's after Essex Police received a referral from the National Crime Agency on New Year's Eve in 2024, which lead investigating officers to key evidence online, which directly linked the Essex suspect to indecent images of children.
Further interrogation of the images and videos led the officers to believe the 18-year-old suspect was in fact the person carrying out the horrific abuse.
They arrested Wiseman at his Witham home on Friday 3 January and during a subsequent search of the address seven electronic devices were seized.
When one of his devices was accessed, officers discovered a large quantity of distressing videos and images which showed sexual assault and rape of a child.
This evidence was put to Wiseman during interview, but he remained silent and refused to answer any questions.
Following irrefutable evidence gathered by the investigative team the CPS authorised them to charge Wiseman with 12 offences.
When he appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court on Tuesday 25 March, Wiseman, of Colne Chase, pleaded guilty to all 12 offences:
- 2 counts of rape of a child under the age of 13
- Assault of a child under the age of 13 by touching
- Assault a child under the age of 13 by penetration
- 3 counts of taking indecent photos of a child (6 x Cat A) (48 x Cat B) (75 x cat C)
- 3 counts of making indecent photographs of a child (44 x Cat A) (43 x Cat B) (93 x Cat C)
- Possession of prohibited images of a child (287 images)
- Possession of extreme pornography (20 images)
At the hearing he was sentenced to 16 and a half years extended sentence for the first two offences, to be served concurrently. Ten and half years to be served in custody with an extended licence period of six years.
For the further 10 offences he received custodial sentences ranging from three years to six weeks, all to run concurrently.
He was placed on the sex offenders register and is subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a Restraining Order.
Detective Constable Red Leeson said:
"Chace Wiseman committed a series of extremely horrific sexual offences against a vulnerable young victim.
"This has been a complex investigation carried out by officers from our online Investigation team.
"The level of his offending has made this case extremely distressing and traumatic for all those involved, and our thoughts are with the victim and their family.
"Essex Police is committed to supporting anyone who has been a victim of a sexual offence. We will thoroughly investigate and support you throughout."