A 43-year-old registered sex offender designated as high risk has received an immediate custodial sentence of three years and two months at Truro Crown Court after being caught in possession of a covert, dark web-enabled tablet computer.
Richard Over, residing in Marazion, Cornwall, appeared in the dock for sentence after entering guilty pleas to five separate breaches of a court-issued Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).
The court heard that Over had a history of child sexual offences, having been convicted of making indecent images of children in 2017 and again in 2024. In both previous instances, he received suspended prison sentences. In December 2023, the court imposed a five-year SHPO containing strict conditions prohibiting him from possessing unapproved internet-enabled hardware and restricting his online capabilities to stop him accessing indecent images of children.
In April 2026, specialist monitoring officers from Devon & Cornwall Police’s Management of Sexual Offenders and Violent Offenders (MOSOVO) team conducted an unannounced compliance visit to Over’s home.
During a physical search of the premises, officers discovered a prohibited tablet computer hidden underneath the duvet on his bed. Upon being caught with the illicit hardware, Over remarked to attending officers: “I’m an idiot.”
A forensic examination of the seized tablet confirmed the presence of software configured to access the dark web, alongside an internet browser specifically designed to evade detection and conceal search histories.
Over formally admitted five separate breaches of his SHPO committed between 17 December 2025 and 5 April 2026.
Under the provisions of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992, all children depicted in indecent imagery linked to sex offending cases are protected by mandatory, lifelong statutory anonymity. Any publication, broadcast, or public dissemination of information capable of leading to the identification of any child victim is strictly prohibited under UK law.
Sentencing Over, the presiding judge highlighted his persistent flouting of court orders and the sophisticated steps taken to circumvent monitoring software using privacy-focused browsers and dark web networks, ruling that only an immediate custodial term was appropriate.
The judge handed Over an immediate prison term of three years and two months (38 months).
Upon release, Over will remain subject to the strict requirements of his SHPO and statutory notification requirements on the Sex Offenders Register under MOSOVO supervision.
Image – Anonymous Artist Impression
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