Lowestoft sex offender jailed for indecent images offences

A Suffolk man has been jailed for making and distributing indecent images of children.

Charles Moore, 57, of Oulton Road North in Lowestoft, was jailed for 27 months at Ipswich Crown Court after he pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent images of children, possession of prohibited images and a breach of a sexual harm prevention order.

Moore is a registered sex offender after he was convicted in 2018 of making and distributing indecent images of children, as well as possession of prohibited images and possession of extreme pornography.

He received a custodial sentence and, upon release, was being managed by the Public Protection Unit.

After Moore's release from prison, police paid a routine visit to his home address in November 2021. Part of the visit saw officers scan his devices for any content which may be related to child abuse material, and it returned positive results on his desktop computer, indicating child abuse material was present.

As a result, his electronic devices were seized so further analysis could take place.

This further analysis established 5,260 category A images, 583 unique category A videos, 6,786 category B images, 693 category B videos and 36,980 category C images and 236 category C videos on his devices.

He also found to be in possession of 20 prohibited images of a child and in June 2022 he was subsequently charged in relation to these offences.

At court on Wednesday, February 8 he was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years and an order enforced for the destruction of his electronic devices.

A police officer said the sentence given to Moore demonstrates that the police will prosecute re-offenders.

PC Nicola Flack, of the force’s Internet Child Abuse Investigation Team, said: “This conviction and sentence demonstrates after an initial sentence for similar offences is served, we will not be afraid to prosecute re-offending and persistent online criminality.

"Internet crimes such as these are far from victimless, and every image depicts the very real abuse a young child has suffered. The prohibitions imposed through this new Sexual Harm Prevention Order allow the police to monitor his online behaviour for the next 10 years, reducing the risk to the public."