Sheffield pervert walks free from court after engaging in online sex chat

Sheffield Crown Court heard on October 11 how Andrew Heyes, aged 56, of Pitsmoor Road, Pitsmoor, Sheffield, was found to have 103 indecent images of children after a police raid at his home and further investigations revealed he had also been distributing images and engaging in online sex chat.

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Andrew Bailey, prosecuting, said: “A search warrant was executed at the defendant’s home and various items were seized including a computer tower with two hard drives.”

Police discovered 26 category A images, five category B images and 72 category C images, with category A being the most serious, and they also found one extreme pornographic image involving an animal and a person.

Heyes pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images relating to the three categories, and he also admitted one count of possessing an extreme pornographic image, three counts of distributing images, five counts of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

The court heard Heyes’ home was raided by police in September, 2017, and the offences were found to have been committed between 2015 and 2017.

Emma Hodgson, defending, said Heyes, who is carer for his poorly wife, has no previous convictions and after a significant delay in bringing the case to sentencing he has not committed any further offences.

She added he has also indicated an acceptance of responsibility and remorse concerning these matters and the kind of offending they perpetuate.

Judge Michael Slater told Heyes: “It is a course of conduct that I accept you are now thoroughly ashamed of involving as it did making indecent photos and distributing photos and videos to others and more disturbingly engaging in sexual communications with people you believed to be young people of either sex in chat rooms over a sustained period of time.”

He sentenced Heyes to 21 months of custody suspended for two years with a community order with a sex offender treatment programme and a rehabilitation requirement. Heyes was also made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for five years.