Letters were sent out to parents who had school age children in the Torbay area during the investigation A 19-year-old man has admitted 13 sex offences linked to an investigation into the exploitation and abuse of up to 20 children in south Devon.
Jake Ormerod, of Babbacombe Road, Torquay, admitted the charges at Exeter Crown Court relating to eight girls as young as 13.
The abused girls came from the Torbay and Teignbridge areas.
Ormerod, who met his victims on Facebook, was arrested in February by police investigating a paedophile ring.
Members of the ring had been grooming and abusing girls in the Devon area.
Ormerod was also believed to be part of a gang who targeted homeless youngsters and also picked up children outside schools, police said.
Thousands of parents at local schools were sent letters in February informing them that a major child abuse investigation, Operation Mansfield, was being carried out by Devon and Cornwall Police.
Victims who had been identified were being supported by multi-agency professionals – including police, Torbay Council’s children’s services and the NHS – police said at the time the letters were sent.
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