A Detective Constable has called on parents to speak to their children about what they are doing online in order to ensure they remain safe.

The message from DC Ryan Parker comes after 49-year-old David Nelson Mitchell was jailed for nine years and four months for a string of child sex offences.

Mitchell, of Granville Road, between Newtown Road and Wigton Road in Carlisle, pleaded guilty to two counts of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.

He also admitted two counts of attempting to cause or incite a child into engaging in sexual activity and three counts of making indecent photographs of a child.

Mitchell purported to be a 17-year-old male from Paris and used social media to interact with a teenage girl.

Over a period of seven months, he made repeated requests to his victim to engage in online sexual activity.

Mitchell then introduced a second character who would threaten and blackmail the girl into further activity. Police were alerted after the girl's mother discovered the conversation.

DC Parker, of Cumbria police's digital media investigation unit, said: "Mitchell is a predator who used two aliases to target his victim and demand her to engage in sexual activity fully knowing her age.

"The victim’s mother told the court of how Mitchell has stolen her daughter’s innocence, which truly shows the impact Mitchell’s actions have had on the victim and her loved ones. I would like to praise her and her family for the courage they have shown during our investigation.

"It is very difficult in this day and age for parents to protect their children online from predators such as Mitchell. I would encourage parents and guardians to speak with their children regularly about what they are doing online and who they are communicating with.

"We will continue to work each day to make Cumbria safer by investigating those who abuse children.

"We encourage anyone who has any suspicions of any sort of abuse to contact us so we can investigate."