Henfield man jailed for child sex offences

A Henfield man has been jailed for four and a half years after he pleaded guilty to child sex offences, Sussex Police said.
By The Newsroom
Published 20th Apr 2016, 13:13 BST
Updated 20th Apr 2016, 15:20 BST

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Joe EllisJoe Ellis
Joe Ellis

Joe Ellis, 53, a postal worker, of Weavers Lane, Henfield, was sentenced at Brighton Crown Court on Monday (April 18), the force said.

A spokesperson for Sussex Police said he pleaded guilty to nine offences at a previous hearing.

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They were five counts of making a total of 138 indecent images of children, assault by touching of a girl under 13, two of causing and inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity, and one of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

Some of the images discovered were among the most serious, detective constable Helen Curtis of the Sussex Police Paedophile Investigation Team (POLIT) said.

All the ‘contact’ sexual offences related to the same girl, police added, but the indecent images were taken from the internet and do not involve local children.

Ellis will be a registered sex offender for life and was given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order to last indefinitely, severely restricting his access to children and computers.

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The prosecution followed an intelligence-led investigation by POLIT, who received information that Ellis had been sharing indecent images of children via the internet.

After officers executed a warrant at his address the contact offences came to light during further enquiries.

DC Curtis said: “Some of the images were of the most serious type, but this is a case which shows that some men who view images of the most horrific child sex abuse can also act out their fantasies by actual physical abuse of children.”

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