Suspended sentence for Chatteris man who had hundreds of pornographic images of children

A man who downloaded hundreds of indecent images of children as well as extreme pornography has been sentenced.

James Lancefield, 34, of Station Street, Chatteris, had his home searched by police in April 2017 after a device registered to him was used to upload indecent images of children.

Police seized devices registered to Lancefield and found more than 400 indecent images of children and extreme pornographic images.

Officers also discovered searches, including those into child abuse investigations, animal porn and paedophilia.

During a police interview, Lancefield initially claimed his computer had been hacked and a number of other people could have used his devices, including a friend of a friend.

However, further investigations showed his devices hadn’t been hacked, and while there was a virus present on one of them, this wouldn’t have caused the downloading of indecent images.

Lancefield later changed his plea to guilty to making indecent images of a child and possession of indecent images and was given a six month sentence suspended for two years at Peterborough Crown Court on Thursday (11). He was also handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for seven years.

DC Caroline Murphy, who investigated, said: “I am glad justice has been served today and we have prevented more children and vulnerable people from being targeted.

“This is a priority area for the force and we will continue to crack down on paedophiles and those looking to exploit children.”