Police hunt paedophile who ‘poses significant risk to children’

A man who exchanged more than 1,200 messages with what he thought was a 14-year-old girl has been jailed in his absence for six-and-a-half years and is now wanted.

Nalika Ranasinghe, 55, first contacted the ‘girl’ in February of 2023, not knowing it was actually a decoy account set up by an online child activist group.

Despite the ‘child’ telling Ranasinghe she was only 14 from the outset, he proceeded to turn conversations sexual, encouraging her to engage in sexual acts both by herself and with her 12-year-old cousin.

Ranasinghe also planned to meet the ‘child’, telling her “I will touch you one day if you let me”.

After exchanging more than 1,200 messages, the activist group confronted Ranasinghe at his home on 14 February 2023 before they called the police.

On arrest, Ranasinghe, of The Hythe, Littleport admitted to sending the messages, but claimed that he knew he was speaking to an adult man, and not a 14-year-old girl.

Ranasinghe was released on court bail and did not attend his sentencing but was jailed for six years and six months in his absence on Thursday (20 March), at Cambridge Crown Court, and is now wanted.

He had been found guilty of two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, and two counts of attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity.

Detective Sergeant Mike Paget said: “Ranasinghe was extremely persistent in his pursuit of sexual gratification from this ‘child’, who continually tried to reject his advances.

“He poses a significant risk to children, which is reflected in the sentence, and we are keen to arrest him as soon as possible so he goes to prison.

“I would urge anyone who knows of his whereabouts to contact police straight away.”

For more about child abuse, including how to report it and spot the signs, you can visit the dedicated page on the force website.