ALAN CHAPMAN PORTSMOUTH MAN CAUGHT WITH CHILD INDECENT MOVIES IN HASLEMERE ROAD

In March 2014, a disturbing case emerged involving Alan Chapman, a 72-year-old man from Portsmouth, who was found to have hidden a significant collection of indecent films depicting children. The incident came to light when the owner of a property on Haslemere Road in Southsea, where Chapman had previously rented, discovered the DVDs during routine repair work. Unbeknownst to Chapman, he had left behind a cache of 51 movies concealed within the ceiling cavity of the residence, a detail that would later prove crucial in the investigation.

Chapman’s possession of these illicit materials was uncovered after the homeowner, curious about the contents of the discs, examined them and was shocked by what he found. Recognizing the severity of the discovery, he contacted a lawyer friend, who advised him to reach out to the child abuse investigation team at Netley. This prompted a police inquiry into the matter, leading to Chapman's arrest and subsequent questioning.

During the examination of the DVDs, authorities found that the collection included a range of content rated at various levels of obscenity. Specifically, two movies were classified at level one, indicating the lowest level of concern. A further 34 films fell into level two, with 14 at level four, and one at the highest, level five, which is considered the most obscene. The content depicted young girls, with Chapman himself admitting an interest in girls aged 12 and above, and he acknowledged that the images included girls of 12 years old and older.

Chapman, who resides on Malins Road in the Buckland area of Portsmouth, was taken into custody and questioned by police. His defense lawyer, Roderick James, explained that the DVDs had been produced sometime between 2002 and 2007 and suggested that Chapman had simply forgotten about their existence. According to Mr. James, Chapman had stored the discs in the ceiling of the property and had moved out without recalling their presence. The lawyer also noted that Chapman had ceased his offending behavior approximately seven years prior to his arrest and that he had suffered significant personal loss as a result of the investigation.

In court, Judge Roger Hetherington sentenced Chapman to a three-year community order, which includes three years of supervision. Chapman was also mandated to participate in a sex offender treatment program, ordered to pay £350 in court costs, and required to register on the Sex Offenders’ Register. Addressing Chapman directly, the judge emphasized the gravity of his actions, stating, “You allowed yourself to get into watching child pornographic material and you downloaded from the internet these various images. The aggravating feature was that you then deliberately stored those discs in the property by concealing them in the ceiling of the basement, essentially with the intention of looking at them again at some future point. That all happened some years ago and it does appear that you may have forgotten about them because you left that property in 2011.”

Furthermore, the court ordered the forfeiture and destruction of all 51 indecent movies. Chapman, who has no previous convictions, was also required to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register as part of his sentence, highlighting the serious nature of his offenses and the ongoing risk posed by such behavior.