Lyndhurst man convicted of possessing over 2,600 indecent images of children

A man from Lyndhurst has been convicted of possessing over 2,600 indecent images of children.

Robert William Russell, 63, of Pikes Hill, Lyndhurst pled guilty at Southampton Magistrates Court on Tuesday 23 May to possession of indecent images of children.

The court heard how between August 2013 and November 2019; he had made a series of indecent images of children which had been stored on external hard-drives.

Officers attended Russell’s home address in Pikes Hill on 9 January 2020 after information was supplied linked to an IP address in relation to the download and possession of indecent images of children.

A number of hard-drives, alongside a tablet device, were seized as a result.

He attended a number of voluntary interviews at a local police station, before later being arrested and charged with making indecent photographs / pseud-photograph of a child, possessing a prohibited image of a child and possessing extreme pornographic images / images portraying an act of intercourse with an animal.

Forensic examinations revealed he had a large quantity of indecent images in his possession on the seized devices.

Of these images, 104 were Category A – the most serious, while 40 were Category B and 132 Category C images. Whilst there were also 2,280 prohibited images of a child and 109 extreme pornographic images.

Appearing at Southampton Crown Court yesterday (13 June), Robert Russell was handed a two-year community order.

He was also made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for a period of five years.

In addition, Robert Russell was told to conduct 150 hours of unpaid work and required to attend a rehabilitation programme for a period of 30 days.

Russell was also required to forfeit his mobile device and pay court costs.

Dan Rowling from the Internet Child Abuse Team in Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary, said: “This was a long, protracted case – but we have taken robust action in order to put Robert William Russell in front of the courts and to secure a conviction.

He clearly poses a risk to children with the significant amount of indecent images that he had created and possessed during a 6-year period. He will have strict conditions imposed upon him as part of his Sexual Harm Prevention Order for the next five years.

“Whilst this has not resulted in a custodial sentence, I hope this investigation highlights our commitment to relentless pursuing criminals and keeping children in our communities safe across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

“Criminals need to know that Hampshire and the Isle of Wight is a hostile environment for them, and that every effort will be made to see justice served. We will do everything we can to ensure offenders are put before the courts.”