‘We will listen to you’, specialist detectives tell sexual abuse victims

In the wake of the largest child sexual abuse investigation Essex Police has undertaken, the detectives involved are urging other young victims to come forward to report sexual abuse and exploitation.

The national When You Are Ready campaign encourages victims and survivors of online blackmail, or sextortion, as well as physical abuse, to seek support and, when they are ready, to contact police.

Our investigation, which ultimately identified that abuser Jay Lang had targeted up to 345 victims, started off with a single report of sexual communication with a child and blackmail in November 2021.

Specialist detectives worked with the CPS to present the best case at court without subjecting many of the victims to a trial. Lots of them were reluctant to go through the whole criminal justice process, although they were still happy to provide evidence to support our case.

Detective Sergeant Ben Rushmere, who led the investigation, says:

“I didn’t hear a single negative comment about this approach. The families we met afterwards felt the sentence was a really positive outcome and were pleased as to how the case was handled.
“As this case proved, it can take victims of physical and online sexual abuse years to come to terms with what they have experienced but I want to reassure anyone reading this that, when you are ready, we are here so please come forward and report it.
“We will listen to you and we will investigate.”

When Lang was arrested at his Canvey home, his electronic devices were seized and examined. The evidence uncovered led then Castle Point and Rochford CID Detective Sergeant Jenna McQueen, who initially worked on the case with DC Emma Adam and DC Cameron Haggie, to realise there was a significant number of other, as yet unidentified, victims.

She handed the case over to our Child Sexual Exploitation Proactive Investigation Team (CSE PIT) who pieced together a hugely complex case over the next 18 months.

The detectives believe up to 345 children were targeted and were able to positively identify 236 of them.

Thanks to their hard work and determination to secure justice for the young people and their families, Lang had no choice at court in September 2023 but to admit all 46 charges the team secured in relation to 26 of the victims.

Ben explains:

“This case started off with one report but that report enabled us to identify hundreds of other victims who we were then able to support in whatever course of action they wanted to take.
“We visited all the victims and their families but, even though we had the proof of Lang’s disgusting activities, some of them weren’t ready to speak to us about it.
“However, because of that initial report we were able to prevent Lang from committing potentially hundreds more offences against young people, who can be particularly vulnerable online.”

Victims placed at the heart of our investigation

The detectives who investigated Lang’s offending and brought him to justice have received recognition for the case and their work is being shared as national best practice.

DS Rushmere, together with Crime and Public Protection Investigation Unit manager Stuart Smith, DC Hayley Langmead and DC Steve Tilley, of our Child Sexual Exploitation Proactive Investigation Team (CSE PIT), and DS McQueen were recently commended by Essex Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington for their dedication to the investigation and the compassion and support they provided to Lang’s young victims.

Mr Harrington says:

“Victims were placed at the heart of this case. Once DS McQueen saw evidence indicating a substantial number of victims, she handed her investigation to detectives specialising in child abuse cases.
“Our CSE PIT immediately recognised the difficulties of identifying every young person involved and went to significant lengths to do so.
“In many instances, this involved liaising with school designated safeguarding leads to identify victims from images, school uniforms and local knowledge.
“And they diligently managed the complexities and sensitivities of approaching victims and their families, to reveal the horrendous crimes Lang had committed and provide safeguarding.
“I have no doubt that their work prevented hundreds of further victims from suffering at Lang’s hands.”

Ben, Hayley and Steve have also received national Police Federation awards for Detective Investigations. Essex Police Federation chair Sergeant Laura Heggie says: "This is an amazing achievement. The judges looked at many submissions from the whole country and selected this investigation above all others. They should be extremely proud."

Raising awareness of the dangers of sextortion

Speaking for the team, Ben says:

“It was a police-led investigation but the partnership working around it was phenomenal. And we’re still working with Social Care, education authorities and the Children’s Society nationally to educate young people about the dangers of sextortion.
“It’s such an impactful area of work. Investigations stay with you for a long time when you are dealing with families the way these families have been affected.
“One family was forced to move away from Essex because of the level of abuse they suffered because of Lang and his blackmail. It’s something I’ll think about until I retire.
“Getting justice and seeing how that affected them in a positive way is very hard to put into words.”

Ben and his colleagues hope reading this story will encourage other victims of sextortion – online sexual abuse and blackmail – and physical sexual abuse not to stay silent.

Ben adds:

“Please, when you are ready, tell someone. Whether you contact a support organisation or report to police, you will be listened to.”

Prolific sex offender

Lang was a prolific sex offender whose crimes took place between April 2018 and November 2021. He posed as a 16-year-old girl named Chloe on social media apps, such as Snapchat and Instagram, in order to make contact with boys aged 11 to 16, most of whom lived in Essex.

Lang pursued sexualised conversations and asked the boys to reciprocate with images or videos. Once images had been exchanged, he would reveal himself as a man and make blackmail demands for additional images or money. Lang also met up with two of the boys and committed contact offences.

Now 25, Lang was jailed in September 2023 for 21 years with a six-year extended licence period. He will serve a minimum of 14 years before being eligible for release. For the rest of his life, his name is on the sex offenders’ register and he’s the subject of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO), meaning all contact with children, either online or in-person, will be severely restricted.

At court, faced with the mountain of evidence against him, he admitted numerous counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, causing or inciting child sexual exploitation, arranging or facilitating commission of a child sex offence, causing or inciting child prostitution of pornography, and blackmail.

When you are ready

When You Are Ready features the voices of victims and survivors who have experienced child sexual abuse and exploitation, online and through physical contact. 

The three-minute film’s aim is to show other victims and survivors they are not alone, it has happened to people, like them, who are now living and thriving.

They are encouraged to seek support if, and when, they feel it’s right for them – perhaps by telling a friend or contacting a support organisation.

The film, which can be viewed below, signposts victims and survivors to a bespoke website directing them to a range of services and support organisations, as well as information on how to contact the police.