Portsmouth man sentenced to 14 years in prison for child sexual abuse and possession of indecent images

A Portsmouth man has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for sexually abusing a child and being found in possession of thousands of indecent images.

Stephen Newell, 48, of St Mary’s Road, London, came to officers’ attention as a Portsmouth resident when an online account linked to him uploaded an indecent image of a child to the internet earlier this year.

Our Internet Child Abuse Team subsequently carried out an investigation, which led to the seizure of a number of devices, including a laptop and mobile phones that had inappropriate content on them.

Our investigation revealed that Newell had also sexually abused a boy under the age of 13.

Newell was arrested in February this year and subsequently charged with two counts of taking indecent photographs of a child, one count of making indecent photographs of children, three counts of distributing/showing indecent photographs/indecent pseudo-photographs of a child/children, one count of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, two counts of assault of a child under 13 by penetration and three counts of sexual assault of a child under 13.

He pleaded guilty to all charges and appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court today (Friday 16 July) where he was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Officer in charge of the case, DC Stephen Hill said: “The sexual abuse of children causes unfathomable damage, and I hope that this sentence provides some justice for the victim, who will continue to receive support from partner services.

“We take all reports of sexual assault extremely seriously, and will do everything in our power to bring those responsible to justice.

"It is so important to us that people have the confidence to report these incidents to us, whether they have happened to you or somebody you know. It is also important to us that survivors and their families are provided with the support they need, and we work in partnership with other organisations to ensure this happens."

For advice on how to report rape and sexual assault, visit the following link:

https://www.hampshire.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/rsa/rape-and-sexual-assault/how-to-report-rape-and-sexual-assault/