Church volunteer jailed after grooming girl

A church volunteer who sent more than 8,000 pages of inappropriate messages to a teenage girl and took part in sexual activity with her has been jailed.

Nam Vu, 28, groomed the girl who he knew from a church in Cambridge - but it wasn’t long before her parents became suspicious.

They discovered deleted screenshots on her phone of a sexually explicit nature, and a WhatsApp chat between the pair but all messages had been deleted.

On speaking to their daughter the girl denied any hint of a sexual relationship and said she was just friends with Vu, of Linclare Place, Eaton Ford, St Neots.

However more evidence then came to light, including a handwritten note from the girl found in a book, which detailed sexual activity between them.

The girl then confided in police what had happened to her, saying that Vu had made sexual remarks to her in the messages and encouraged her to take part in sexual activity, as well as touched her inappropriately.

Vu was arrested and interviewed but answered no comment to all questions asked by officers.

His phone was seized and analysed where it was discovered that in six weeks during 2024, there were more than 8,000 messages between Vu and the teenager – most of them sexual in nature.

'Putting my entire life on the line'

The messages highlighted how Vu began grooming the girl, offered to buy her clothes and complimented her.

On multiple occasions throughout the chat Vu acknowledged the girl was under 16, added that she could ‘ruin him’, said how he could go to jail and how he was ‘putting his entire life on the line’.

Vu continued to deny any wrongdoing however, at Cambridge Crown Court in December, eventually pleaded guilty to six offences including:

• Engaging in sexual communication with a child
• Four counts of engaging in non-penetrative sexual activity with girl under 13-15
• Inciting a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity

Vu was sentenced at Peterborough Crown Court on Thursday (19 February) where he was handed a total of three years and four months in prison.

He was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely and given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), with strict conditions to monitor any future offending and contact with children.

Vu was also given a restraining order, to run indefinitely, preventing him from contacting his victim in any way.

'Never able to truly see the danger'

Detective Constable Lara Wycherley, of the force’s Child Abuse Investigations and Safeguarding Unit (CAISU), said: “Vu engaged in highly sexualised communication with the victim in this case, whilst acknowledging her age and that he was in a position of trust.

“He groomed a vulnerable child for his own gain and his behaviour was utterly disgusting. I would like to praise the parents in this case who realised something wasn’t quite right, and urge other parents and carers to speak to their children about exactly who they are communicating with.

“The magnitude of the effect of Vu’s behaviour cannot be underestimated. In a victim impact statement given to the judge, the teenager told how the persistent nature of the abuse meant she was never able to truly see the danger she was in.

“She added that Vu repeatedly told her to keep quiet and conditioned her to believe that his crimes were her fault.

"Also of importance, she told how the abuse had made her lose all trust in men, changed her perspective on people in a direction that isn’t pleasant, stripped her from her childhood innocence and left an irreparable scar.

“We will do everything in our power to protect children from predators like Vu and, as this case demonstrates, bring them to justice for their actions.”

For more information and advice about child abuse, including grooming, visit the force’s dedicated web page.

Anyone who is concerned someone may have been convicted of a sex offence, and could be posing a risk to a child, can apply for disclosure information through Sarah’s Law.

Anyone who looks out for the welfare of a child can make an enquiry. This can include parents, carers, guardians, extended family, friends and neighbours.