A sexual predator who shared thousands of indecent images of children with other paedophiles has been given an extended prison sentence. Christopher Spooner created a group on an online chat programme to share images and videos with other individuals from across the world. Officers also found emails and online chat threads in which Spooner encouraged a man to sexually abuse a child and send him videos and images of the abuse. The registered sex offender was arrested on January 11 last year after Essex Police s online investigation team (POLIT) received information he was accessing indecent images of children - and breaching a sexual harm prevention order.
He initially denied five counts of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence but changed his plea to guilty. Spooner, who has been on remand in prison since his arrest, was jailed for the 11 offences at Basildon Crown Court yesterday, Wednesday 24 February. He was sentenced to 14 years, comprising of eight years imprisonment and six years on licence when he leaves jail. He has been placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register indefinitely. As part of the police investigation, 180 emails and online conversations were found involving sexual offences that resulted in further separate investigations. This has led to six other suspects being found elsewhere in the UK whom Spooner had been in contact with.