Man Admits to Sexual Assault and Possession of Child Abuse Images

Simon Neale, 54, has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a young girl while she slept and recording the act. The assault came to light when police investigated Neale's electronic devices and discovered indecent images, leading to the assault charges.

Neale, formerly of Telford but recently residing in Catshill, Worcestershire, was apprehended in July 2022 at his Telford home. Police had traced potentially illegal activity to him using a Dropbox account and his IP address.

Prosecutor Robert Edwards stated that when police knocked on Neale's door and requested entry, he inquired, "Is that Dropbox?" A subsequent search of his home yielded numerous indecent images of children, both still and moving, on a Sony laptop and an 8GB SD card. This included 119 category A images, the most serious classification under the law, depicting the worst forms of abuse.

During interviews with police, Neale claimed he was "addicted to pornography" and had "unintentionally" downloaded images of children.