Surrey Man Jailed for Sharing Child Abuse Images After Ban

Nicholas Murphy, 65, of Staines-upon-Thames, has been sentenced to five years in prison for sharing indecent images of children online. This comes despite a previous conviction for distributing child abuse images in 2005 and a subsequent ban from possessing computers or accessing the internet at his home.

In 2020, Murphy had his Sexual Harm Prevention Order discharged. However, he was caught again in July 2020 when Surrey Police discovered that he had uploaded indecent images of children to the internet in 2019.

Police executed a warrant at Murphy's home in September 2020, seizing his phone, which contained hundreds of images and videos of child abuse, including prohibited and extreme content. A message was also found on the phone indicating that Murphy had engaged in conversations about raping children with another individual.

Murphy pleaded guilty to charges of making and distributing indecent images of children, possession of prohibited images, and possession of extreme pornographic images.

PC Callum Darby of Surrey Police's Online Paedophile Investigation Team stated, "Murphy was already the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order... when it came to light that he was offending again. As the investigation unfolded, we uncovered hundreds of indecent images and footage of children on his phone which he was sharing with hundreds of other people. We also found extreme pornographic and prohibited images on the same phone."

Darby added, "The sentence given to Murphy demonstrates our commitment to ensuring those who take part in such vile and predatory practices at the expense of innocent children are brought to justice."