Description
A PROLIFIC paedophile found in possession of more than a thousand indecent images of children has been jailed.
Richard Simon Morris, aged 59 and of Bournemouth, appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday, November 29, 2024, to be sentenced after admitting three counts of possessing indecent images of children.
Morris was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison, with an extended licence period of a further 18 months.
On Wednesday, June 28, 2023, an offender manager and his colleague visited Morris, who was a registered sex offender and the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, at his home address.
The officers asked to inspect his phone, and the defendant produced a different one to the device he had been seen using moments earlier. They challenged Morris, and when he showed them the other device, officers saw what they believed to be indecent images.
Morris was arrested, and a number of electronic devices were seized.
The defendant was released on bail, and when officers paid a further visit to his address on Wednesday, August 23, 2023, an inspection of a mobile phone again revealed suspected indecent images.
In total, officers uncovered more than 1,500 indecent images of children. These were categorised with 282 at the most serious Category A, 446 Category B images and 811 Category C images which were both accessible and inaccessible.
Detective constable Phillip Riggs of the Paedophile Online Investigation Team said: "Richard Morris is a persistent offender who continued to illegally access indecent images despite being a registered sex offender and the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, showing a clear lack of remorse for his previous offending or the sanctions imposed on him by the courts.