Suspended sentence for convicted paedophile who breached court order
Peterborough Crown Court - Credit: Archant
A convicted paedophile has been handed a suspended sentence after breaching the conditions of a court order.
Robert Swinden, 44, was convicted of making and possessing indecent images of children in 2005 and handed a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO).
These give police powers to visit the homes of convicted sex offenders unannounced and search any device with access to the internet.
On April 12 last year, police visited Swinden's home in Russell Court, St Neots. During a search of his devices officers found 97 indecent images of children with 11 classed as category A, the most severe.
On October 22 at Peterborough Crown Court, Swinden was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for 18 months, after pleading guilty to making indecent images of children. He was also handed a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.
DC Kerry Howard said: "Despite his previous conviction Swinden continued to look at illegal material.
"Children are victimised not only when they are abused and an image is first taken, but repeatedly every time that image is viewed.
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"Thanks to this sentence we will have the necessary powers to monitor his online activity for the next 10 years, minimising the risk of further harm to the public."
