Surprise inspection led to recovery of videos showing sexual abuse of children

A registered sex offender subject to strict measures around his access of the internet was caught using a laptop to download illegal images of children.

Explicit material including the sexual abuse of children was recovered after police made an unannounced visit in Snodland to the home of Roger Crabtree.

Officers attended the Rectory Close property on 2 November 2023. 

Crabtree had been subject to an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) - following previous convictions for making and possessing indecent images.

The SHPO meant Crabtree had to make any internet enabled devices immediately available for inspection.

Child victims abused

The inspection revealed concerning search terms linked to his web history, and this led to the seizure of a laptop and hard drives.

These were later forensically examined and found to contain 33 illegal images and videos of children, including several in the highest category showing unknown victims being subjected to abuse.

After the evidence was recovered, Crabtree was later arrested and charged with three counts of making indecent images of children.

He pleaded guilty and admitted a further charge of breaching his SHPO. This related to an incident in January 2024 when he was found to have unlawfully deleted the internet history of a Kindle device.

High risk

On 2 May 2025, Crabtree, 59, was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court. Recorder David Wood described him as being of high risk to children, adding the material he had accessed showed ‘real victims having terrible things done to them’.

Crabtree was jailed for two years and six months. The sentence included a penalty for breaching a previous suspended sentence.

Leading the investigation was PC Rob Allen, who said:

‘Crabtree has a lengthy history of offending connected to his desire to access and obtain images and videos of real children suffering appalling abuse. 'He has been given several chances by the courts but has repeatedly shown a flagrant disregard for the measures and restrictions imposed to protect children and prevent him from reoffending. 'Crabtree appears to have no understanding of the gravity of his actions, but as this case hopefully shows we will do everything within our powers to ensure offenders like him face the consequences.’