Hampshire man with thousands of indecent images of children convicted
Robert William Russell, 63, made the images over a six-and-a-half year period
A man from Hampshire has been convicted of possessing thousands of indecent images of children has been convicted.
Robert William Russell, 63, of Pikes Hill pled guilty at Southampton Magistrates court in May to possessing more than 2,600 images.
He was handed a two-year community order and made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for a five year period.
Additionally, he’s been ordered to do 150 of unpaid work, surrender his mobile phone, attend a rehabilitation programme for 30 days and pay court costs.
The court heard how Mr Russell had made a series of indecent images of children, which were stored on external hard-drives, over a six and half year period between August 2013 and November 2019.
Officers attended Mr Russell’s home in January 2020 following information supplied linked to an IP address regarding the download and possession of indecent images of children, where a number of hard-drives and a tablet device were seized.
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.”