Britain's youngest female paedophile is jailed for more than seven years

Sophie Elms, now 18, committed the 'devastating' sexual offences against two young children aged just two and three years

A teenage nursery worker who is Britain's youngest named female paedophile has been jailed for seven years and ten months for sex attacks on two young girls.

Sophie Elms was just 17 when she sexually assaulted a two-year-old and a three-year-old.

She was also prosecuted for four offences of taking indecent photographs of children. 

In a victim impact statement read to the court, the father of the two young girls told how Elms has 'completely destroyed our lives' and 'damaged us beyond words'.  

The father said: 'We honestly do not know the full extent of damage you have left on our two beautiful babies. What you did could have serious long-term effects on them in their later lives.

'We have such a complete lack of trust to anyone with our children now. Even leaving them at pre-school is a challenge to us, as this was the profession in which you were training.'

Elms committed the offences after being contacted by a sex offender online, the court heard

'Our youngest daughter is so distraught at bedtime that we have to stay with her for several hours.

'We have made the decision that we cannot stay in Swindon for fear of bumping into you - and that it will be better for us to move [abroad]. This whole horrific event has damaged us beyond words.'

Elms worked at a local nursery in Swindon, but police have confirmed that none of the alleged offences are said to have happened at the childcare facility. 

She committed the sickening attacks after a sex offender called David Gearing contacted the teen online and incited her to abuse them and send him pictures.

Prosecutor Hannah Squire said Elms was left in charge of the children in 2016 and 2017.

But in early 2017, Elms began having online contact with sex offender Gearing - who was later sentenced in November 2018 to 15 years in jail for child sex offences.

Prosecutor Hannah Squire said: 'The contact started off non-sexual. But what is relevant is that Miss Elms was out there online, and receptive, one might suggest susceptible, to contact from men like David Gearing.

'Miss Elms did not seek to hide her identity. The contact moved quickly into sexualised communication, and commission from David Gearing to commit sexual offences.'

She wept as the father of the victims told of the long-term impact on the two girls

Miss Squire added: 'Miss Elms started out with innocuous photos of the two children - that is, fully clothed - sent to David Gearing.

'But this soon moved on to pictures of the children naked, and images of Miss Elms touching the children - which, to an extent, were requested by David Gearing.'

In a police interview in April 2018, following her arrest on March 10, Elms told police that Gearing must have obtained her details from somewhere online.

She said that she liked talking to him, as she had 'low confidence' and he 'made her 

Elms was jailed at Swindon Crown Court today. Police say they are pleased she will never be able to work with children in the future

Elms' lawyer Chris Smyth said that his client had been groomed from the age of 13 by four separate males - at least two of whom have been prosecuted.

He added: 'From the age of 13, her details were put online as a joke by one of her friends, and she was made to perform sexual acts for men in front of a webcam.' 

Following today's sentencing, Det Insp Simon Childe said: 'Understandably, this case has shocked the local community as well as those further afield.

'Elms is just 18-years-old making her one of the youngest women in the country to be convicted of these types of offences, and at the time of committing these atrocious crimes, she was studying child care with a long term aim of working with very young children in the future.

'I am extremely grateful to my team of dedicated officers who have been able to intercept and prevent her from working with children ever again.' 

Despair of her victims' father

'The damage Sophie Elms has caused to our family is unimaginable. Our two beautiful daughters looked up to you.

‘We asked you if you wanted to care for them overnight, to help with your studies. Not for one moment would we have imagined that this decision would change our lives forever.

‘We honestly do not know the full extent of damage you have left on our two beautiful babies. What you did could have serious long-term effects on them in their later lives.

‘We have such a complete lack of trust to anyone with our children now. Even leaving them at pre-school is a challenge to us, as this was the profession in which you were training.

‘Our youngest daughter is so distraught at bedtime that we have to stay with her for several hours.

‘We have made the decision that we cannot stay in Swindon for fear of bumping into you – and that it will be better for us to move [abroad].

‘This whole horrific event has damaged us beyond words.'