Leicetser: Child Indecency Offences

15 June 2013, 06:16 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

A 65-year-old man has been sentenced to three years in prison for making and distributing indecent images of children.

Martin Jarvis, formerly of St Bernards Road, Whitwick, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to making and distributing indecent images of children and encouraging and assisting other online offenders to evade detection.

Jarvis has not lived at this address since January 2013.

He was sentenced today (Friday June 14) to three years in prison at Leicester Crown Court.

The investigation began after Leicestershire Police received information from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP).

CEOP had been carrying out enquiries into a group of people who were believed to be actively involved in sexually abusing children.

Jarvis assisted the group by creating safe areas for them to communicate online. Over a number of years Jarvis created many website where he distributed indecent images of children and made them available for his online contacts.

He was arrested by Leicestershire Police officers in January 2013

DC Robert Waddington said: “This was an incredibly detailed investigation involving several agencies.

“Jarvis was responsible for distributing many thousands of indecent images of children to like minded individuals around the world. He used his technical skills to help others to commit offences.

“He was also found with a collection of over a 300,000 Indecent Images of Children on his own computers.

“Offenders such as Jarvis think they can contact, coerce and cause harm to young people via the internet, and believe they will not have to face the consequences of their actions.

“They must realise that everything done online leaves a digital footprint and we will use this information to locate them and ensure they are brought before the courts to face justice.”