Horam man sentenced for child sex offences

Christian Charles Turner, 30, was sentenced at Hove Crown Court on Friday (June 24) to a total of three years and four months.

Mr Turner had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual activity against a girl in her own home and then aged 13, and six counts of voyeurism involving the other girl then aged 11 and 12 at his own home and at another location.

The offences happened between 2017 and 2021.

He also admitted making a series of nearly 4000 indecent images of children, all taken from the Internet and none believed to be of local children, found on his two mobile phones when officers arrested him last year.

Turner will be a registered sex offender for life and the court also gave him a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) severely restricting his access to children and digital devices.

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Detective Constable Sean Stapley, of the East Sussex safeguarding investigations unit, said: "Our investigation started when we were contacted by a family last autumn with concerns that their daughter had raised about Turner's behaviour.

"It became clear that he had systematically ingratiated himself with the two families, gaining their confidence to a point at which he was able to commit the offences.

"Thanks to their willingness to be ready to give evidence, justice has now been done and a predatory child sex offender has been exposed and punished and steps have been put in place to manage him on release."