Former Norfolk police officer jailed for offences relating to indecent images of children
32 year old Neil Porter pleaded guilty to a number of offences
Last updated 4th Nov 2021
A former police officer has been sentenced to two years in prison after admitting a number of offences relating to indecent images of children.
32 year old Neil Porter, from the Watton area, appeared at Norwich Crown Court.
He'd previously pleaded guilty to taking an indecent image of a child, distributing an image of a child, and three counts of making an indecent image of a child.
The offences relate to incidents which happened in June and October 2020 while Porter was a serving police officer with Norfolk Constabulary.
Porter had been a response officer based at Wymondham and had one year, five months’ service.
The court heard the offences came to light during an investigation into sexual activity with a child, a boy under 16. Information concerning this allegation was shared with officers from the Safeguarding Children Online Team (SCOLT) on Tuesday 13 October 2020.
Porter admitted to being in a sexual relationship with someone he had met via dating app Grindr. He said he had an honest held belief he was over 16.
Internal misconduct proceedings were fast-tracked and at a hearing held in December last year, Porter was dismissed without notice for gross misconduct. The misconduct hearing was held in private because the police investigation was still ongoing at the time.
Porter was also placed on the Sex Offender Register and given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years.
“Offences relating to indecent images are treated extremely seriously, because every image presents us with the opportunity to identify and protect victims, and pursue those who abuse them and spread this abhorrent material
“There’s no excuses for Porter’s behaviour; he knew what he was doing was wrong and the fact he was a serving police officer at the time only makes it worse.
“The subject of police conduct rightly remains under increased scrutiny in the aftermath of the Sarah Everard case. Public confidence has been damaged and for me it’s really important the public know we expect the utmost professionalism and the highest standards of personal conduct from officers.
“When these are in question, I’m confident we have the right processes in place to take swift, impartial and robust action and when we’re able to, we’re open and honest about it.
"In this case, the officer was immediately suspended and when possible in according with Police Regulations, the necessary misconduct proceedings were held, and he was dismissed without notice.
“Criminals will operate in all walks of life, but our resolve remains the same regardless of your profession. If you’re committing these offences, we will bring you to justice.
Chief Constable Paul Sanford