Detective’s hard work and dedication secures child groomers long term jail sentence.

Thanks to the fantastic work by Detective Sergeant Kelly Ryan and her team an Essex child exploiter is jailed.

This week a 68 year old predator from Buckhurst Hill was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment. Thanks to the incredible work undertaken by Detective Sergeant Kelly Ryan from the Child Exploitation Team and her team, John Bancroft who targeted vulnerable girls right across the country is now behind bars.

Det Sergeant Ryan is a fantastic role model for any woman interested in joining the police and becoming a detective.She was praised by the judge on the Bancroft case for her thorough work that led to the securing of this conviction. Alongside her team, these officers worked literally day and night for four years to make sure John Bancroft was firmly put behind bars where he belongs.

Det Sergeant Ryan told the Havering Daily:

“This really was a complex case and a long one as we had Covid in the middle of it which made everything longer. We had 68 devices to go through and thousands of documents to look at. He really cast his net out so wide and across so many social media apps.”
Bancroft joined apps such as Mylol impersonating teenage boys to lure young girls. He then targeted vulnerable girls who were either lonely or had family issues and began to exploit them.

“He really homed in on their vulnerability.He exploited them by offering the girls money or food, giving them gifts and taking them to hotels. He had this aura of respectability about him, almost like a father figure. That’s how he groomed them.”

Det Sergeant Ryan was able to use Bancroft’s messages in court to show the jury just how he manipulated the girls using an old phone. The pensioner would frequently bring his victims to hotels giving them gifts to groom them for what he wanted.

“The result is a big victory for all his victims,” says Det Sergeant Ryan. “It gives them closure at last and the justice they deserve. They have suffered a great deal but have been equally strong in having the strength to face him in court.

“This has been a long case and probably the most complex I have worked on but thanks to the incredible strength of his victims, by them giving evidence, they have got this man off our streets.”

After four years of hard work and total dedication to this case Det Sergeant Ryan and her team can be proud of the incredible result they have achieved. Well done to all the victims who had the courage to come forward and face this evil man and put him behind bars.

If you have been a victim of a crime like this or have experienced something similar, please call 101. The Met Police is dedicated in stopping violence against women and girls and has the help of detectives like Sergeant Ryan to support you through difficult cases like this.

Well done to all involved.