Kristian Fernandez, of Clements Road, Ramsgate, Kent, has been sentenced to two years and three months’ imprisonment at Canterbury Crown Court after police uncovered a collection of child sexual abuse material during a routine visit to his home.
The prosecution arose from a compliance inspection conducted by Kent Police public protection officers.
The court was told that Fernandez was an established sex offender who had previously been sentenced for similar child sexual offences in 2009, at which point he was made subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO).
On 6 June 2019, an officer attended Fernandez’s address on Clements Road to carry out a scheduled monitoring visit.
Whilst examining a mobile handset found in Fernandez’s possession at the property, the officer identified an indecent image of a child.
The mobile phone was seized and submitted for comprehensive digital analysis.
Specialist forensic examiners recovered a collection of illicit material spanning the full spectrum of legal severity.
In total, examiners retrieved more than 20 indecent still photographs and video recordings categorised across Categories A, B, and C.
The court heard that 16 of the recovered files were classified as Category A, depicting the most extreme level of child sexual abuse.
Fernandez was subsequently arrested, interviewed by detectives, and charged with three counts of making an indecent image of a child.
At Canterbury Crown Court, Fernandez entered formal guilty pleas to all three counts on the indictment.
The presiding judge handed Fernandez an immediate custodial sentence of two years and three months (27 months).
Release Calculation: Under UK sentencing legislation governing standard determinate custodial sentences, Fernandez was entitled to statutory release on licence at the halfway mark. He was required to serve one-half (13.5 months / one year, one month, and two weeks) of his 27-month term in prison custody before release on licence to complete the remainder of the sentence under the supervision of the Probation Service in the community.
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