Man found with sexually explicit material involving children jailed for five years
A man found in possession of sexually explicit material involving children has been jailed for five years.
Connor Stephens, who had previously lived at multiple addresses in the Boston area, appeared at Lincoln Crown Court for sentencing on Thursday, July 11.
The 21-year-old had pleaded guilty to three breaches of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), as well as possession of child sexual abuse material, prohibited material, and extreme pornography.
He was also sentenced for perverting the course of justice, and breaching a suspended sentence order.
Stephens was sentenced to five years in prison, given five years extended licence, and handed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.
The Sexual Harm Prevention Order breaches were discovered in November of last year, Lincolnshire Police said.
A spokesman for the force said two of Stephens’ devices had been hidden from MOSOVO (Management Of Sexual Or Violent Offenders); following their discovery, the devices were found to house explicit material.
Some 21,000 images/videos were found, the spokesman said.
Stephens then alleged he had been sexually assaulted in an unconnected incident, but further investigation and CCTV evidence found the claim to be untrue, the force said.
Det Supt Nicola Stafford said: “An awful lot of work went into this case across several different departments – Response, MOSOVO, POLIT (Paedophile Online Investigation Team), DFU (Digital Forensics Unit), Prison Intel and Boston PVP (Protecting Vulnerable Persons).
“MOSOVO worked to manage Stephens in line with his SHPO, a digital media investigator within POLIT conducted both cloud extractions, essentially evidencing 1000s of indecent images.
“DFU who went above and beyond to ensure that urgent device downloads and uploads were done within a tight timeframe for court.
“Prison Intelligence Officers assisted the officer in charge, so Stephens could be interviewed about the offences whilst he was on remand.
“PVP officers at Boston and within POLIT were the OICs (officers in the case) for both image and pervert the course of justice offences.
“It really was a brilliant example of an interdepartmental effort, spanning several months from November 2023 to now.”