A TRAINEE cop who sent vile messages to 100 girls begging them to send warped pictures on social media has been jailed.
Sick Jason Hicks, 31, groomed his victims - some as young as nine - while working as a student officer in Devon and Cornwall Police.
He used TikTok and Snapchat to target young girls across the globe while posing as a teenage college student called Jack.
After gaining his victims trust, the conversation quickly turned perverted as Hicks pestered them to send naked pictures.
The disgraced wannabe officer tracked down youngsters' social media accounts before moving the dialogue to Snapchat in a bid to cover his tracks.
Police only recovered a fraction of the 100 contacts on his account as the messages are programmed to delete automatically.
Hicks would encourage girls to take part in a "truth or dare" game, before persuading them to strip and send intimate snaps.
His online grooming victims include an American girl aged 13 and two eleven-year-olds from Sweden.
The shamed trainee cop was only caught when the mother of a nine-year-old girl from Wiltshire found a string of sickening messages on her daughter's phone in December 2021.
She reported it to the police who eventually realised that they were sent by an upcoming member of the force.
Hicks' home was raided in January last year, where cops also found over 1,000 indecent images on his laptop.
Hicks admitted his vile crimes when he was grilled by investigators, confessing he had been sexually attracted to children since he was a teenager.
He said he knew what he had done was "100 per cent wrong" and he "didn't like being this way".
The 31-year-old was suspended following his arrest before he was struck off by Devon and Cornwall Police.
A psychiatric report concluded that he had a compulsive sexual behaviour disorder and was suffering from depression.
But a judge at Exeter Crown Court described him as a dangerous offender, whose release would have to be tightly controlled by the Parole Board.
He said: "With the greatest respect for the reports, they each fail to properly engage with the elephant in the room, which is why you sought out so much contact with young children rather than adults and why you sought real sexual contacts rather than accessing existing online pornography.
"This was serious offending involving real life and real-world contact with individuals you knew or believed to be young girls at a time when you were a student police officer.
"I acknowledge you have lost the chance of the career you once wished for."
Hicks admitted inciting or attempting to incite five different girls to sexual activity and sexual communications with them and three of making, by downloading, indecent images.
He was jailed for four years with a three-year extended licence, put on the sex offenders' register and made subject of a sexual harm prevention order which will allow police to monitor his online activity for ten years.
Miss Mary Aspinall-Miles, defending, said Hicks is genuinely remorseful and keen to receive treatment or therapy to change his behaviour.
She said: "This is somebody who hates who he is and hates what he has done and knows the harm he has done."
In wake of the horror case, Devon and Cornwall police's temporary Assistant Chief Constable Steve Parker said: "We note and welcome the sentencing of Jason Hicks today for what are despicable offences.
"I would like to commend the bravery of the young victim in this case and her family in coming forward and reporting these appalling crimes.
"We remain committed to bringing perpetrators of such offences to justice and those responsible will always be investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
"All police officers, including those in training, have a privileged role in being part of a Force. They are responsible for the safeguarding of vulnerable people.
"The actions of Jason Hicks were wholly wrong and illegal and he now faces the consequences of that.
"Our Paedophile Online Investigation Team and Professional Standards Department acted swiftly as soon as these offences were brought to our attention and Hicks was immediately arrested and suspended.
"Accelerated misconduct proceedings meant he was dismissed soon after. Devon and Cornwall Police takes any reports of illegal or inappropriate conduct extremely seriously.
"I can reassure the public that the overwhelming majority of our officers and staff work diligently to help to keep the public safe, uphold our high standards and provide an exceptional service to our communities.
"We will always take the appropriate action when standards fall below those expected and continue to learn from any instances where they do."
