Medical exchange student who planned to rape child is jailed for 10 years

A medical exchange student who planned to rape a child has been jailed for 10 years.

Police say Axel Torres-Vargas, 21, posed a "significant risk" of serious sexual harm to children in the UK. He began an online conversation with an undercover police officer who referred to himself as 'Uncle Jim' and claimed to be the uncle of a 10-year-old girl.

The Mexican national, who was living in the United States before coming to London on a short-term student exchange, revealed his sexual interests in children and sent 'disturbing' pictures to the undercover cop. Torres-Vargas was arrested on arrival in Norwich, to where he had travelled with the intention of raping a young girl.

He admitted seven sexual offences and was sentenced at Norwich Crown Court to 10 years in prison, as well as being given five more on licence. The court heard he had travelled to the UK on a short-term student exchange in June 2023, based in London, and was a Mexican national who had previously been living in the US.

Whilst living in the capital, he engaged in sexual communication with an undercover police officer from the Eastern Regional Special Operations Unit of Norfolk Constabulary, who was posing as an adult with a sexual interest in children. The officer referred to himself as ‘Uncle Jim’ in conversations with Torres-Vargas, and claimed to be the uncle of a ten-year-old girl. The medical student revealed his sexual interest in children and sent indecent images of children to the officer.

The pair later arranged for Torres-Vargas to travel to Norwich, in Norfolk, to rape a ten-year-old girl. However, upon arriving at Norwich Train Station on June 28, he was immediately arrested and his devices were seized. More than 1,000 indecent images and videos of children were found on the devices - with more than 300 of them depicting the most serious sexual abuse of very young children. Various communications with other unknown third parties where he discussed the sexual abuse of children were also found.

After previously admitting seven offences, including arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, three counts of distributing indecent photographs of a child and three counts of making indecent photographs of a child, Torres-Vargas was jailed on December 19 for ten years. He will serve an additional five years on licence and was also slapped with an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Detective Sergeant Craig Dixon, of Norfolk Constabulary's Safeguarding Children Online Team (SCOT), said Torres-Vargas posed a 'significant risk' of serious sexual harm to children in this country.

“Torres-Vargas had images and videos of the most disturbing sexual abuse of children stored on his mobile phone," he said. "He poses a significant risk of serious sexual harm to children. I hope this sentence sends a message of how seriously these kinds of offences are taken.

“Norfolk's SCOT team work closely with Regional, National and International partners to make the internet a hostile place for individuals who engage in this type of online activity, and to safeguard children from serious sexual abuse and exploitation."