CHRISTOPHER SPOONER JAILED IN BASILDON FOR CHILD INDECENCY OFFENCES IN 2021 AND 2011

In February 2021, Basildon-based sex offender Christopher Spooner was sentenced to a total of 14 years in prison after being convicted of multiple child sex offences, including sharing indecent images and encouraging abuse.

Spooner, aged 42 at the time, had created an online chat group to distribute thousands of indecent images and videos of children to individuals worldwide. Police investigations uncovered emails and chat threads in which he urged a man to sexually abuse a child and send videos and images of the attack.

He was arrested on January 11, 2020, after Essex Police’s online investigation team (POLIT) was informed that he was accessing indecent images of children and was breaching a sexual harm prevention order. Authorities searched his home in Pattiswick Square, Basildon, seizing mobile phones and memory cards, which contained over 14,500 indecent images and videos of children.

Experts also discovered that Spooner had shared 411 images across two online chat groups within the twelve days leading up to his arrest. He admitted to two counts of distributing indecent images of children, three counts of making such images, and one count of breaching a sexual harm prevention order. Although he initially denied five counts related to facilitating child sex offences, he later pleaded guilty.

Having been held on remand since his arrest, Spooner faced his sentencing at Basildon Crown Court on February 24, 2021. The court imposed a sentence of 14 years, consisting of eight years of imprisonment followed by six years on licence. Additionally, Spooner was placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register indefinitely.

Furthermore, police investigations uncovered 180 emails and online conversations involving sexual offences, leading to separate inquiries. These efforts identified six other suspects across the UK with whom Spooner had been in contact. All six individuals have been either arrested or subjected to ongoing court proceedings.

Previously, in July 2011, Spooner, then aged 33 and residing in Waltham Abbey, was jailed for over four years for possession of indecent child images. At that time, he was sentenced in his absence at Chelmsford Crown Court to four years and eight months in prison with a five-year extended licence. Spooner had admitted to assaulting a young boy, photographing the abuse, and distributing images of it. He was also involved in sharing indecent images of young boys and infants globally.

Detective Constable Phil Merriam commented on the case, stating, "The Essex Police online investigation team would echo the comments of Her Honour Judge Walden-Smith sentencing at Chelmsford Crown Court, who said that Spooner poses a very high risk to children and of re-offending. The sentencing also reflects the strong link between the use of indecent material and offending against children. We are pleased that justice has been done in this case and hope that those involved are now able to move forward in the knowledge that children are protected from a dangerous man."