Vicar found with more than 20,000 indecent images of children.

Vicar Found Guilty of Possessing Thousands of Indecent Images of Children

David Renshaw, a vicar from Worthing, was convicted on February 7th of eight counts related to child abuse imagery, including possessing indecent images of children, making indecent images of children, possessing prohibited images of children, and possessing extreme pornographic images depicting acts of intercourse with animals.

The 63-year-old was arrested in June 2019 after an illegal image was discovered on a file-sharing website in New Zealand. The account was linked to Renshaw via his email address and IP address, leading to an investigation by the National Crime Agency and Sussex Police.

A search warrant was executed at Renshaw's residence in August 2020, where police seized numerous devices containing a total of 22,504 illegal images. The RSPCA also seized several malnourished animals from the property.

Renshaw, the vicar of Holy Trinity and Christ Church in Worthing, vehemently denied the charges. However, a jury at Hove Crown Court found him guilty on all eight counts.

Detective Sergeant David Rose, the investigating officer, stated, "Throughout this investigation, Renshaw has sought to blame everyone but himself. He has refused to accept or take responsibility for his actions, which I am sure would outrage the local parish he represented."

Rose further elaborated, "Through painstaking and careful enquiries, we were able to show that the child abuse images were on his computer, saved under his username and found on a hard drive on his desk. The sheer number of images suggests that they were amassed over a long period of time."

He added, "The search for his address was one of the most revolting tasks our officers have ever had to endure. Aside from malnourished living animals, there was a dead rotting kitten and a dead rotting rat on the floor, as well as used needles and other drug paraphernalia. The search was an extremely unpleasant scene."

Rose concluded, "It was also a particularly harrowing experience for the officer who had to sift through and grade each image, something that will stay with him for the rest of his life. I am grateful to our partner agencies for their support, and to the Diocese of Chichester for their full co-operation throughout the investigation. All necessary safeguarding investigations were conducted, and no identifiable children were at risk in this case."

Renshaw has been released on bail and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 13th.