Lee Maidens Jailed for Six Years for Distributing Child Abuse Images Online

Lee Maidens, a 44-year-old man from Doncaster, has been sentenced to six years in prison for distributing graphic images of child abuse online.

Maidens was communicating with an adult online and discussed committing offences against their 10-year-old child. Between September 3rd, 2024, and October 3rd, 2024, he sent explicit images to the profile.

Officers searched Maidens' home in October 2024 after receiving information about his involvement in online child sex offences. They discovered that he had sent a number of indecent videos to the profile, depicting victims as young as 11 months old being abused.

At Sheffield Crown Court on Wednesday, Maidens admitted to offenses including arranging or facilitating the commission of a sexual offense against a child under 13, attempting to cause a child to look at an image of sexual activity, and two counts of distributing indecent images of children.

Judge Rachael Harrison described Maidens as "dangerous," noting that his offending only ceased after his arrest. Sam Musgrove, the lead investigating officer, called Maidens' offenses "vile" and stated that the police will continue to act on intelligence to bring offenders like him to justice and protect children online.

Maidens was sentenced to six years in prison with an extended license period of four years.