Prison officer in Doncaster jailed for possessing extreme porn images

By Stephanie Bateman
Published 29th Nov 2022, 00:01 BST
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A prison officer has now become an inmate after being jailed for 21 weeks after being found with indecent images on a phone he had illegally taken into work.

Jonathan Lever, aged 36, of West End Lane, Rossington, discovered his fate when he was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court on Friday, November 25.

The court heard that Lever entered HMP Lindholme on Monday, September 7, 2020, with his mobile phone and charging cable in his bag. Police were in attendance and further phones were recovered from his car.

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His phones were downloaded and officers discovered a number of extreme pornography – both images and videos.

Jonathan Lever, aged 36, of West End Lane, Rossington, was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court after police found extreme pornography on his phonesJonathan Lever, aged 36, of West End Lane, Rossington, was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court after police found extreme pornography on his phones
Jonathan Lever, aged 36, of West End Lane, Rossington, was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court after police found extreme pornography on his phones

Officers from South Yorkshire Police’s Prison Anti-Corruption Unit arrested and interviewed Lever. He was later charged with bringing a prohibited article into prison, possessing an indecent photograph of a child, and three counts of possessing extreme pornographic images.

Detective Sergeant Gareth Gent, who led the investigation, said: “The vast majority of people working in our prisons are hard-working and professional officers whose primary concern is the safeguarding of inmates and colleagues. Any officers that fall short of that and are found to have committed a crime will be dealt with.

“This case is an example of one of the many processes developed in partnership with our prisons to allow us to identify criminality and deal with those responsible.”

Lever admitted all five charges at a previous hearing. He was sentenced to 21 weeks in prison last week and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for seven years.