A 42-year-old man from Mannings Heath has been jailed for five years and four months after being convicted of multiple breaches of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, making indecent images of children and failing to comply with sex offender notification requirements.
Mark Grindon, of Swallowfield Close, was sentenced following a lengthy Sussex Police investigation involving the examination of multiple digital devices.
Police said officers discovered more than 1,400 indecent images of children during the investigation.
Previous order imposed in 2016
Grindon was first made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order in October 2016 after being sentenced for six counts of making indecent images of children.
The order was amended and made indefinite in December 2019 following further offending.
In December 2023, Grindon was arrested during a vehicle stop after police received information suggesting he had breached the order.
Officers found him in possession of a smartphone which was prohibited under the terms of the SHPO.
He was charged with two breaches and later sentenced to 20 months in prison at Lewes Crown Court in March 2024.
More than 1,400 images discovered
Police continued examining devices seized during the investigation.
Officers said they found more than 1,400 indecent images of children and identified 11 social media accounts allegedly created using the names “Bob” and “Ricard”.
Grindon was arrested again in August 2025.
A search of an address in Mannings Heath led to the seizure of another smartphone, a laptop, several SD cards and a television streaming device.
He was subsequently charged with multiple offences, including making indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children, breaching his Sexual Harm Prevention Order and failing to comply with notification requirements.
Convicted after trial
At Hove Crown Court in September 2026, Grindon pleaded guilty to five breaches of the SHPO.
He stood trial on a further SHPO breach, three counts of making indecent images of children and one count of failing to comply with notification requirements.
He was convicted of all five offences on September 18.
The court sentenced him to five years in prison for the 10 offences.
A further hearing at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on September 28 resulted in an additional four-month sentence after Grindon failed to comply with a court order requiring him to provide PINs, passwords and access patterns for electronic devices.
His total sentence is therefore five years and four months.
‘Each image depicted sexual abuse against a real child’
Detective Sergeant Melanie Pyle said:
“The scale of Grindon’s offending and his disregard for the harm caused cannot be underestimated.
“Each image in his possession depicted sexual abuse against a real child, and I am pleased to see him held accountable for his offences.”
Sussex Police said the case demonstrated the importance of digital investigations in identifying further offending and enforcing court orders designed to protect the public.
