A Portslade man has been jailed for almost three years for a catalogue of child sex offences.
Spencer Pledge, 36, of Chalky Road, Mile Oak, was sent to prison at Hove Crown Court yesterday (Friday 1 February) for a total of 34 months.
He pleaded guilty to 18 offences at a hearing on 4 January including
- four offences of sexual activity in the presence of 10 to 12-year-old girls in Egmont Road, Hove, Stoney Lane, Portslade, and Kingston Broadway and Downlands Avenue, Southwick, between June 2010 and May last year
- eight offences of making indecent photographs of children in 2011 and 2012
- five offences of having more than 900 indecent photographs of children in 2011 and 2012
- one offence of outraging public decency in Shoreham in May last year in the presence of three 10-year old children and two adult women
Pledge was required to sign the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely on his release from prison.
He was also issued with an indefinite sexual offenders prevention order (SOPO).
The order has nine conditions intended to prevent Pledge from having any access to children and to prevent any further offences being committed when he is released from prison.
His actvities came to light when he acted indecently in his car in the presence of three young girls in Stoney Lane.
His behaviour was reported to Sussex Police. Officers swiftly identified Pledge and arrested him.
Further inquiries revealed that he had previously acted in this way towards other young girls locally while sitting in his care and sometimes while driving slowly.
Detectives and computer specialists seized and examined his computers and found videos that Pledge had made of himself carrying out indecent acts with some girls in the background.
They also found hundreds of indecent images of young children that he had downloaded from the internet.
Detective Constable Lindsey Van-Buiten said: “Pledge had acted in a most offensive and distressing way towards these young girls, who were very shaken by their experience.
“Some didn’t know quite how report it at the time but they and their families have given their full co-operation to this inquiry.
“Pledge’s offending was made even worse by his videoing of some of his acts and also by, separately, downloading indecent images of children from the internet, all for his own gratification.
“There is no evidence that he physically assaulted any children but we are relieved that his offending has been brought to a close.
“We remind children and families that they can always report this kind of behaviour to the police, and we will take action to deal with it.”
