Prolific child sexual offender jailed following Met Police investigation

A prolific child sexual offender has been jailed following a detailed investigation by specialist officers from the Met.

David Chellapah, 31 (02.09.1994), was sentenced to 10 years at Isleworth Crown Court on Friday, 22 May after pleading guilty on Friday, 27 February to 21 offences relating to online sexual exploitation of children.

The offences took place between August and October 2025. The investigation began after police received intelligence that Chellapah was communicating with a child and attempting to arrange a meeting in order to sexually abuse them.

Acting swiftly, officers from the Met’s Central Specialist Crime Command, Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (OCSAE) team intercepted and arrested him on Friday, 17 October 2025 when he attended a pre-arranged meeting with a child to sexually abuse them.

DC Alan Stepkowski-Fellows from the Met’s Central Specialist Crime Command said: “Chellapah showed clear and persistent predatory behaviour, targeting children online and attempting to escalate that contact into serious harm. Our officers acted quickly to intervene, prevent further offences and bring him before the courts.

“Safeguarding victims remains our priority. We worked closely with partners to ensure all children were protected and supported, with specialist officers using trauma-informed approaches. We also secured strong digital evidence so victims did not have to attend court.

“We will continue working with partners to protect children and hold offenders to account.”

Extensive digital forensic analysis of Chellapah’s mobile phone and other devices revealed he had been targeting multiple children aged between 12 and 15 across social media platforms. He engaged in sustained grooming behaviour, sending sexual messages, inciting children to engage in sexual activity, and attempting to arrange further meetings.

Officers identified multiple victims through communications recovered during the investigation, with some children subjected to coercion and pressure to produce sexual images and videos.

Searches of Chellapah’s home address led to the seizure of several digital devices, including a USB stick containing a significant volume of indecent images and videos of children. Some material involved very young children.

Following a thorough investigation, Chellapah pleaded guilty to all counts in February 2026. His offences included sexual communication with a child, attempting to meet a child following grooming, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, and offences relating to the production and possession of indecent images of children.

The Met has recorded significant year‑on‑year increases in reporting of sexual offences, suggesting more victims feel able to come forward. New statistics also show that arrests and charges for child sexual exploitation have increased by 116 per cent over the last year.

The Met is committed to improving victim experiences at every stage within an investigation, recently committing to a £10 million upgrade programme of the suites used to carry out VRIs (video recorded interviews) across its estates.

As one of a number of ongoing projects to improve the experiences of victims, the spaces will allow officers to record sensitive victim interviews to be replayed in court and inform an investigation.