Ex-police worker re-jailed for child sex offences

A former police force employee previously jailed for sharing illegal images of children being abused has been handed a new prison sentence for similar offences.

David Robinson, 56, was first convicted in 2015 when his "sickening" online chat with other paedophiles - which included offering to buy a child online to abuse them - was uncovered.

He was released in October 2020 but police discovered new content on his mobile phone during a visit to his home in Carlisle, Cumbria.

Imposing a 40-month sentence, Judge Nicholas Barker said Robinson had deleted the messages because they were "sexual and indecent" and related to the abuse of children.

Robinson had worked as "front counter" staff for the force, as the first point of contact for people visiting a police station.

New content subsequently discovered on his phone by police included indecent images of children, some in the most serious Category A, and WhatsApp chats with other men.

But some messages and call logs had been deleted and this "frustrated attempts by police to see the history of those conversations", prosecutor Gerard Rogerson told Carlisle Crown Court on Friday.

Robinson had also engaged a "disappearing messages" function on the messaging app.

This, along with the chat deletions, were in breach of a sexual offences prevention order (SOPO) imposed as part of his 2015 punishment to restrict his online use, the court heard.

Robinson admitted nine offences relating to breaching the SOPO, making indecent photographs of children and possessing extreme pornographic images.

He must sign the sex offenders’ register for 10 years with a new and indefinite prevention order imposed.

"I am satisfied that the reason you deleted the messages was because the context of those messages was of a sexual and indecent nature, relating to the sexual abuse of children," Judge Barker said.

He also said Robinson, of Garfield Street, should be classed as a dangerous offender and, as a result, imposed an extended three-year licence period.

During Robinson's previous offending, while offering to buy a child online, he had decorated a room in his home for a youngster and applied to be a foster carer for young boys.

The sentencing judge at the time said Robinson "presented one face to the outside world, another deeply unattractive one online".

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