North Colerne Man Sentenced for Viewing Child Abuse Images
Kieran Philip Lee of Larch Road, North Colerne, appeared at Salisbury Crown Court via video link on June 15. He received an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, for the primary charge. On top of that, Lee was handed two further four-month suspended sentences, also suspended for two years.
All sentences will run concurrently, meaning Lee will effectively serve eight months suspended over two years. But that’s not all – he must also complete 30 days on a sexual offences rehabilitation programme and perform 150 hours of unpaid work. Plus, a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order has been imposed.
How Lee’s Crime Was Uncovered
The case came to light thanks to tips from cooperating agencies. On July 22, 2020, police executed a Section 8 warrant at Lee’s home on Larch Road. He was arrested as he returned from work.
Officers found Lee had shared passwords to a cloud-based account. There, they discovered illegal, abusive images of children. Lee denied intentionally downloading the images during police interviews.
Police Reaction and Investigation
“This was a disturbing case involving a person who was viewing indecent images of children who were at a very young age,” said Detective Constable Jason Walsh of Wiltshire Police’s Child Internet Exploitation Team.
“We acted quickly to arrest Lee, seizing his devices and searching for evidence of illegal activity.”
“While every child in these images is a real victim, there was no evidence that Lee photographed or harmed any children known to him.”
“This case highlights the relentless efforts by police to catch offenders accessing child abuse images and bring them to justice.”
