Man who hoarded over 15,000 child abuse images jailed

A jail sentence has been imposed on a prolific child sex offender following the discovery of thousands of child abuse images across multiple devices.

Investigation

In 2025, Andrew Sharp uploaded an indecent image of a child to the internet. This illegal internet usage was flagged to detectives at Kent Police who launched a full investigation.

A warrant was obtained for Sharp’s property in Station Road, Lydd, Romney Marsh, and officers attended in June 2025 to seize his internet enabled devices. Sharp wasn’t in the country at the time officers conducted the warrant but was notified of the seizure of his digital assets. A laptop was analysed, and digital forensics experts discovered the presence of child sexual abuse material.

When he re-entered the country, Sharp sent a message to a contact in his phone where he confessed to possession of indecent images and revealed that he had also taken indecent images of a young girl.

Discovery

The 69 year old was arrested upon his return on June 21, 2025, and was interviewed in custody. He admitted to the possession of the indecent images found on his laptop, alongside revealing that he had sexually assaulted a young girl across four years.

He was charged with sexual assault and two other indecent image related offences. Sharp was then remanded in custody.

Enquiries progressed in the investigation, and whilst he was on remand, further laptops attributed to Sharp were discovered. Across his devices, detectives found thousands of child abuse images, as well as hundreds of images of his young victim, which gave detectives reason to believe she had been raped.

Following a detailed forensic review of the seized laptops, detectives located 17,382 indecent images of children.

Charges

Sharp was further arrested in November 2025. He pled guilty to 12 additional charges including rape and continued to be remanded in custody whilst he awaited sentencing.

On Friday 19 June 2026, Sharp, was sentenced to 13 years and 6 months in prison at Canterbury Crown Court. Additionally, the court granted a restraining order against his victim for 20 years, alongside a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for the same amount of time.

Detective Constable Andrew Hunter said:

‘At no stage during the investigation did Sharp show any remorse for the sustained campaign of abuse he inflicted on his victim or for possessing such terrible images. I am pleased to see him behind bars where he can cause no further harm to our community, or to his victim. ‘I want to thank the victim and her family for their continued cooperation and for the resilience they have shown throughout this complex and upsetting investigation.’