Man sentenced for online sex offences against children

Man sentenced for online sex offences against children

A 31-year-old man has been handed a three-year community order after admitting to online sex offences against children.

Robert Churchyard, of Morris Road in Wickham Market, was sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court on Friday, 30 October, after pleading guilty to six counts of making and distributing indecent images of children, and two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

Churchyard was arrested at his home address in March 2025 after police received intelligence to suggest he had engaged in sexual communication with a ‘child’ online.

The child did not exist, however Churchyard believed he was communicating with a 12-year-old boy who he had sent messages of a sexual nature to on Snapchat. Within these messages, he attempted to engage in sexual conversation and sent explicit images.

Following Churchyard’s arrest, officers conducted a search of his property and seized multiple devices for forensic examination.

On one device, police found evidence that Chuchyard was using social media to communicate with a 14-year-old boy through the private messaging application Signal, through which he shared indecent images and videos.

Further enquiries uncovered additional evidence showing he had shared explicit content online.

Across his devices, police identified:

In addition to his sentence, Churchyard was also made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for five years.

An order was enforced for the destruction of Churchyard’s devices.

PC Nicola Flack from the Internet Child Abuse Investigation Team said: “It is clear that Churchyard has a deep-seated sexual interest in young boys. He actively searched for child sexual abuse, belonged to a group where material was shared and sought opportunities to speak to children, send them sexual abuse material and encourage them to send sexual images of themselves.

“We will continue to work proactively with partner agencies to identify and prosecute those who upload indecent images of children and communicate with children online.”

For advice around staying safe online, please visit Online child abuse | Suffolk Constabulary