Sex offender who preyed on children as young as three.

A paedophile has been found guilty of 43 historic sex offences against children as young as three.

Clinton Royle was arrested in 2019 after a complaint was made. During the investigation, officers seized children's clothing, hard drives, and digital storage devices from his home.

Cheshire Police's digital forensic unit discovered encrypted and password-protected files containing thousands of child abuse images. These files also included recordings of Royle's offending.

One of his victims was aged between eight and 12 years at the time of the abuse. Further investigations revealed other child victims aged between three and 12 years.

Chester Crown Court heard Royle admitted to being present in the videos and images with the children, but denied the offences, claiming his actions and the images were not sexual in nature.

Despite his denials, Royle, 62, of Elm Drive, Crewe, was charged with the offences in April 2023. After an 11-day trial, he was found guilty of 28 counts of assaulting a girl under 13, two counts of taking an indecent photograph of a child, three counts of possessing indecent photographs of children, three counts of making indecent photographs of children, and seven counts of inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

Royle has been remanded in custody until his sentencing on September 27.