Former policeman jailed for possessing indecent images of children

Rustington man Simon Quinn, 43, unemployed, of The Street, appeared at Hove Trial Centre on Thursday (June 11) having pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to ten charges of making a total of 1,100 indecent images of children and one charge of possessing three extreme pornographic images.

Detective Constable Chris Smith said: “Although there was no evidence of any contact offending, each image in these cases represents a criminal offence of child abuse and we will continue our efforts to identify and bring to justice such offenders.”

The prosecution came following an investigation by the Paedophile On-Line Investigation Team (POLIT) of Sussex Police.

Quinn was arrested by POLIT officers at his then home address in Hawthorn Close, Horsham, in August 2013.

All of the images were obtained from the internet, a police spokesman added.

Quinn also pleaded guilty to possessing a prohibited weapon - namely the CS spray.

He was sentenced to a total of six months imprisonment.

Quinn had been a former constable in Surrey Police but had resigned four years ago.