An East Yorkshire woman has been jailed after she admitted to "feeding" sexual predators by producing child sexual abuse material and sharing it online.

Sonia Chivers, 29, from Driffield, was arrested by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers in December 2020, after it was identified that she had been discussing her plans to abuse a child online.

A month previously, she had joined a group on a messaging platform, which was created for those with a sexual interest in children aged four and under.

NCA officers seized her mobile phone on which they found two videos.

One was of Chivers performing a sexual act in front of a young child which was of the middle category of images of child sexual abuse, and an indecent image of a child of the lowest category of twhich she had taken herself.

When interviewed, she said she didn’t know how she ended up in the online group, but stayed as she liked the attention she was getting from other users. 

An NCA officer said Chivers also admitted to sending one of the videos and the photo of the child via private chats and that in doing so, she had "fed these predators".

Chivers later pleaded guilty to one count of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child under 13, as well as two counts each of making and distributing indecent images of children.

She was sentenced today at Hull Crown Court to three years and four months in prison. She was also made subject to a sexual harm prevention order and has been put on the sex offender register indefinitely.

Hazel Stewart from the agency said:“Sonia Chivers claimed she generated child abuse material as she liked the attention, and in her own words, she “fed” the demand for this content by sharing it with others.

“This, in addition to engaging in very explicit online conversations about the sexual abuse of children, is behaviour that encourages others to commit abuse themselves and puts children in danger.

“Identifying , arresting and bringing to justice those who pose a sexual threat to children is a top priority for the NCA. We work with a range of partners within law enforcement to ensure offenders are disrupted and children are safeguarded.”