Cambridgeshire gymnastics coach jailed over 17,000 indecent images of children

A children's gymnastics coach from Huntingdon has been sentenced to more than three years in prison after police discovered thousands of indecent images on his phone.

Aaron Strachan, 26, of Robertson Way, Sapley, Huntingdon, was arrested in August 2024 after police received information that he may have indecent material on his phone.

Officers discovered 17,147 indecent images of children, including more than 5,000 in category A, the most serious classification.

Police also found 56 group chats in which indecent images were requested and shared, including by Strachan.

He initially denied knowing about the images, suggesting someone else could have accessed his phone.

However, on the day his trial was due to begin, he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children and one count of distributing an indecent image or video.

Strachan was sentenced at Cambridge Crown Court on Friday 16 October to three years and four months in prison.

He was also given a 20-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely.

Detective Constable Matthew Walshe, who investigated the case, said Strachan had been working as a gymnastics coach teaching boys of a similar age to those depicted in the images.

Police stressed that none of the children identified in the images were found to be children Strachan knew or worked with.