Description
A man caught in the act by Metropolitan Police officers as he attempted to view horrific and indecent footage of children has been jailed for 12 years in prison – with a lifetime sexual harm prevention order.
Lester Sharpe, 46, (25.11.1977), of no fixed address, was handed the sentence at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday, 7 August. He pleaded guilty in June to the charge of arranging the commission of child sex offences and was remanded in custody.
Over April and May 2025, Sharpe believed he was speaking to a person who would facilitate an online live stream of an eight-year-old girl being sexually abused. The dangerous predator was in fact speaking with an officer from the North East Regional Organised Crime Unit.
On the morning of Wednesday, 7 May Sharpe requested that the offence took place at a particular time that evening and made a specific request about what the child should wear during the abuse.
This active step to view the footage enabled officers to progress with an arrest. That same evening, police attended his place of work in Kensington while he was taking his break in the basement. They broke into the room through a locked door and found Sharpe as he prepared to access the live stream through his phone.
He was immediately arrested and subsequently charged.