Locations
Boston, Lincolnshire, PE21
Description
A convicted sex offender was found to have 21,000 indecent photos and videos of children. They were discovered on devices Connor Stephens hid from police teams during routine monitoring of his behaviour.
The 21-year-old was the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order but was found to have breached it in November 2023. Lincolnshire Police said two of Stephens’ devices had been hidden from MOSOVO managers (management of sex offenders and violent offenders) and were found to contain explicit material.
Stephens then alleged he had been sexually assaulted in an unconnected incident. Lincolnshire Police said further investigation and CCTV evidence found the claim to be untrue.
Stephens, who had previously lived at multiple addresses in the Boston area, pleaded guilty to three breaches of a sexual harm prevention order as well as possession of child sexual abuse material, prohibited material and extreme pornography. At Lincoln Crown Court on Thursday, July 11 he was also sentenced for perverting the course of justice and breaching a suspended sentence order.
He was sentenced to five years in prison, given five years extended licence and handed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.
Lincolnshire Police said the case involved work across a number of police teams and hailed the "brilliant" team effort.
DS Nicola Stafford said: “MOSOVO worked to manage Stephens in line with his SHPO and a digital media investigator within POLIT (Paedophile Online Investigation Team) conducted both cloud extractions, essentially evidencing 1000s of indecent images. DFU (Digital Forensics Unit) went above and beyond to ensure that urgent device downloads and uploads were done within a tight timeframe for court.
“Prison intelligence officers assisted the officer in charge, so Stephens could be interviewed about the offences whilst he was on remand. It really was a brilliant example of an interdepartmental effort, spanning several months from November 2023 to now.”