NORFOLK MAN, 65, JAILED FOR CHILD SEX AND INDECENT IMAGES OFFENCES
Police have warned sex offenders who upload indecent images of children that they leave "leave a digital footprint", after a man was handed a 20-year sentence.Robert Cathersides, 65, was given an extended 20-year sentence, made up of 12 years in prison and eight years on licence.
It came after he admitted a catalogue of indecent images offences and child sexual offences committed between 2007 and 2020.
Cathersides, formerly of Muriel Kenny Court, Hethersett, was jailed at Norwich Crown Court last month after he pleaded guilty to 19 offences against 14 victims.
He was convicted of three counts of causing/inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, eight counts of causing/inciting a child to pornography, six counts of making indecent images and two counts of taking indecent images.
Cathersides was jailed after police launched an investigation in November 2020 into the uploading of indecent videos to the internet, linked to a Yahoo account.
Enquiries into the account led officers from the force’s Safeguarding Children Online Team (SCOLT) to identify Cathersides as a suspect.
Officers attended his Hethersett home towards the end of 2020 when he was arrested on suspicion of the possession and distribution of indecent images of children.
A number of devices were seized and Cathersides was taken to Wymondham Police Investigation Centre for questioning.
He was released on bail while enquiries continued and questioned by detectives again in June 2021 when he was charged with 19 offences.
Following examination of all devices, 641 indecent images/videos were found, ranging from Category A, the most serious, through to Category C images.
Cathersides was also given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and was also placed on the sex offenders' register indefinitely.
Speaking after the case, detective constable Cheryl Hindson, from Norfolk Constabulary's SCOLT, said: “The internet is not an anonymous space for accessing or sharing indecent images and videos, such activity leaves a digital footprint and we will find it and take action.” Anyone with information about child sexual offences should call Norfolk Police on 101.
