LEWIS CROFT FROM WELTON SENTENCED FOR SEX OFFENCES INVOLVING CHILDREN IN LINCOLN

In November 2019, Lewis Croft, a 19-year-old resident of Welton, was sentenced to a total of 26 months in prison after being found guilty of multiple serious offences related to the exploitation of children and the creation of indecent images. Croft, who resides on Cliff Lane in Welton, appeared before Lincoln Crown Court on Friday, November 15, having previously pleaded guilty to charges under the Protection of Children Act 1978.

The court heard that Croft had exploited opportunities to work with children, including a position at a school where he secretly took indecent photographs of minors. His criminal activities came to light after authorities discovered that he had been downloading illegal indecent images of children from his home address. As part of his sentencing, Croft was handed a 26-month prison term and was also issued a 10-year sexual harm prevention order, which aims to prevent him from working with children or gaining access to them in the future.

Detective Superintendent Jon McAdam, who leads the Protecting Vulnerable Persons Unit, commented on Croft’s offending, stating, “Lewis Croft has exploited opportunities to work with children and once in a position of trust he has secretly taken images of children at a school. He originally came to notice for downloading illegal indecent images of children at his home address. He has been sentenced for all of his offending today and part of his sentence will prevent him ever working with children or gaining a position of trust where he has access to children again.”

The charges against Croft were categorized into different levels of severity, with detailed counts including:

- Making an indecent photograph of a child contrary to section 1(1)(a) of the Protection of Children Act 1978, involving 247 category A images taken between September 22, 2018, and July 2, 2019.

- Making 145 category B indecent photographs of children between February 12, 2019, and July 2, 2019.

- Creating 1,115 category C indecent images of children from January 4, 2019, to July 20, 2019.

- Taking 229 photographs, both individual and group shots of children, all classified as Category C, during the period from November 27, 2018, to July 24, 2019, including images of specific children.

Earlier in August 2019, Croft admitted to taking indecent images of children at a primary school where he was undertaking a training placement as part of his college course. He pleaded guilty at Lincolnshire Magistrates’ Court to nine charges of making indecent photographs of a child. Police confirmed that three of these images were captured at the primary school during his placement.

Following the tip-off from an American law enforcement agency, Lincolnshire Police raided Croft’s home in Cliff Road, Welton, in July. The investigation revealed that Croft had been downloading illegal images, which led to his arrest and subsequent charges. He remains in custody and is scheduled for sentencing at Lincoln Crown Court, where the full extent of his criminal activities will be addressed.