Paedophile breached court order after just one day by searching for explicit images of children

Mark Henderson (39) was given a 12 month sentence, suspended for two years, and handed a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) on July 11, 2017, after being convicted of making indecent images of children and taking an indecent image.

SHPOs give police the power to turn up at a convicted sex offender’s home unannounced and search any device with access to the internet. On September 5, 2017, police and probation officers visited his house in Hampden Gardens, Cambridge, to check his laptop and computer.

During their search they discovered Henderson had searched for explicit images of children on July 12, 2017. A further examination of his devices revealed one extreme image, seven Category C images and more than 550 indicative images.

Henderson was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment, suspended for a year, at Cambridge Crown Court yesterday (Friday) after pleading guilty to possession of an extreme pornographic image portraying an act of intercourse with an animal and making indecent images of a child at an earlier hearing.

He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for seven years and handed a 13 year sexual harm prevention order.

DC Richard Newman said: “Henderson ignored his sentence and was back offending after less than 24 hours. This is a great example of the work we do, post-conviction, to protect the public.

“This is not a victimless crime and we are working hard to bring those who view and download these images to justice.”

The force’s Public Protection Unit is dedicated to monitoring convicted sex offenders. The team is responsible for carrying out unannounced visits at their homes and conducting checks to ensure orders are adhered to.

Anyone who is concerned someone may have been convicted of a sex offence, and could be posing a risk to someone, can apply for disclosure information through Clare’s Law and Sarah’s Law.