Lincolnshire man jailed for having over 20000 indecent images of children
Sean Dempster has been jailed for three years
A man from Lincolnshire has been jailed for 3 years after investigators found over 20 thousand indecent images of children on his phone.
Sean Dempster of Welland Road was sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court today (5th September).
Lincolnshire police say they received multiple referrals about the 31-year-old and his behaviour online: "He was first brought to our attention following a referral that a user of a Sony PlayStation account had uploaded a Category C indecent image of a child online.
"Officers arrested Dempster on 21 May 2024 on suspicion of distributing indecent images of children and seized his mobile phone for examination.
"Digital media investigators found over 20,000 Category A-C indecent images of children on his phone."
Detectives also found chat logs where Dempster was sending images and videos to other users, and causing what is believed to be children to commit sexual acts on themselves and talking to them in a sexual way.
Whilst on bail, he continued to send indecent videos of children in a private chat and was arrested.
He attempted to hide a new phone and iPad under a pillow during a search of his home - these devices had another 5261 indecent images of children as well as 165 prohibited images of children.
He had distributed around 340 images of children online.
A Lincolnshire Police spokesperson said: "The case was taken to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) whilst Dempster was in police custody, and the 31-year-old was charged with three further offences of making indecent images of children and one charge of possession of prohibited images of children.
"He was sentenced to 30 months for distributing Category A images, which are the most serious types of indecent images of children. He was also guilty of the following and the sentences are to run concurrently:
- Distributing Category B indecent images of children, for which he was sentenced to nine months
- Distributing Category C indecent images of children, for which he was sentenced to three months
- Attempting to incite a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, for which he was sentenced to 24 months
"He was also jailed for six months for making Category A indecent images of children and was guilty of the following. The sentences below will also run concurrently:
- Making Category B indecent images of children, for which he was sentenced to six months
- Making Category C indecent images of children, for which he was sentenced to six months
- Possession of prohibited images of children, for which he was sentenced to three months"