Published by Robert L Senior Reporter on Friday 14th March 2025, at 17:50hrs
Oliver Thomas Lupton Lane, a 24-year-old law student from Wistow near Selby, has been sentenced to six years and 10 months in prison for a series of horrific child sex offences.
The shocking case, which unfolded at York Crown Court, revealed a calculated campaign of grooming and abuse, leaving victims with profound emotional trauma.
Lane, of Richmond Hill, Garman Carr Lane, pleaded guilty to 11 of the 18 charges against him, including sexual activity with a child, arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, and multiple counts of making indecent photographs of children.
The court heard how North Yorkshire Police were alerted after a 14-year-old girl disclosed that she had been engaging in sexual activity with a man she met on Snapchat.
Swiftly identified and arrested, Lane’s electronic devices were seized, revealing a disturbing cache of child sexual abuse material, including images and videos of the victim.
Further investigation by North Yorkshire Police’s Victim Identification Unit uncovered two additional child victims featured in the illicit material.
The force’s Digital Forensic Unit successfully recovered a lengthy Snapchat conversation between Lane and one of the victims, clearly demonstrating his awareness of her age and his deliberate grooming tactics.
He coerced her into producing explicit photographs and videos and arranged to meet her for sexual activity.
Lane, who was in his third year of a law degree, had brazenly claimed to one of his victims that he was already a lawyer.
He was charged with 18 offences, including engaging in penetrative sexual activity with a girl aged 13-15, causing or inciting a girl 13-15 to engage in sexual activity, engaging in sexual communications with a child, making indecent images of a child, and blackmail.
Detective Constable Oliver Dalby from York CID expressed his revulsion at Lane’s actions.
“The offences for which Lane has pleaded guilty are wholly reprehensible. He has inflicted such a profound level of emotional trauma upon one of his victims, that she is unsure whether she will ever fully recover,” he said.
DC Dalby also highlighted Lane’s lack of remorse, noting that his late guilty plea forced one victim to undergo a pre-recorded cross-examination, reliving her abuse.
“Throughout the investigation, Lane has shown no remorse. His decision to enter guilty pleas just before the start of his trial meant that one of his victims had already undergone a pre-recorded cross examination, in which she had to revisit the abuse that she had suffered.”
He praised the victims for their courage and cooperation, emphasizing that their bravery was crucial in bringing Lane to justice.
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