Friday 8 January 2010
Essex man sentenced for child sexual abuse offences
Mark LONGMAN, 43 of Charnwood Avenue, Chelmsford has been sentenced to an indeterminate public protection sentence at Basildon Crown Court on January 7, 2010 for sexual assault, making, possessing and distributing indecent images of children and perverting the course of justice. He will serve a minimum of four and a half years before he can be considered for parole.
DC Phil Merriam of the Essex Police On-Line Investigation Team said:
“This complex enquiry into Mark Longman’s grooming and sexual abuse of teenage girls and his taking and distribution of indecent pictures of girls for financial gain over a period of several years has been running since May 2008. Throughout the investigation Longman denied his wrongdoing and attempted to pervert the course of justice by getting others to destroy evidence. By extending the necessary investigation in this way Longman has prolonged the pain and distress of his young victims. The thorough and complete investigation into Longman’s offending, lifestyle and background eventually forced him to admit his guilt. The victims and their family members are extremely relieved that they no longer have to face the ordeal of giving evidence in court and our thoughts are with them.”
The scope of the investigation involved over 40 civilian and police witnesses, in excess of 430 exhibits, 13 hours of suspect interviews and the examination of over 2 terabytes (1012 bytes) of data from over 30 computer hard drives and 18 mobile phones. Enquiries have extended to four other police forces and have been assisted by financial investigators from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) and scientists from the Forensic Science Service. Essex Police would like to thank all those who have contributed to the successful outcome of the investigation.
Jim Warnock, Head of CEOPs Specialist Operations Support said:
“In using specialist financial investigators, CEOP were able to support Essex Police in proving the scale of Longman’s online offending and the extent of his subscriber network of likeminded individuals to whom he was selling child abuse images.
“This sentence should send out a clear message to those seeking to profit from the sexual abuse of children. Every financial transaction – like any activity on the internet - is like a digital footprint which we will track and follow to hold these offenders to account.”