Sompting man sentenced for child sex offences

Russell Newman, also known as McCaw, 25, a packer, of Elizabeth Place, Sompting, was sentenced when he appeared at Lewes Crown Court on Friday (December 23), having pleaded guilty at a previous hearing.

Police said he admitted two offences of sexual activity with a boy in Hampshire; three of causing and inciting two boys and a girl all aged under 16 to engage in sexual activity via the Internet; and three offences of causing the two boys to watch a sexual act.

Newman had also admitted nine offences of making and distributing indecent images of children, and two offences of possessing prohibited images, according to police.

A police spokesperson said: “In addition to his prison sentence he will be subject to Sex Offender registration for life and has been given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) to last until further court notice, severely restricting his access to computers and children. His is also barred for life from ever working with children.”

Detective Constable Jackie Keogh of the Sussex Police Paedophile On-Line Investigation Team (POLIT) said; “Our investigation of the on-line-offences involved three other police forces, Hampshire, Durham, and Northumbria, where Newman had contacted the young people he offended against, taking his offending to another level by actually meeting the boy from Hampshire as well and sexually assaulting him. He systematically sought out these vulnerable children on the Internet and used money to entice them to perform sexual acts on-line for him.

“There were at least 15 other young victims, all believed to be boys, who he contacted on social chat sites from whom he requested and obtained images, causing them too untold harm.

“Those victims could not be traced as the only details available to the police were user names. These names are easily changed on each chat site and often have no link to the actual child. This case shows the dangers of young children using these social chat sites.”

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