A 40-year-old convicted sex offender who previously served a 32-month sentence for possessing and distributing child abuse images has been sent back to prison after deleting phone messages.
Lee Glendenning, of Franklin Road, Gillingham, appeared for sentence at Maidstone Crown Court after pleading guilty to failing to comply with the requirements of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).
The court heard that following Glendenning’s move to Medway, police monitoring software operating on his mobile phone alerted officers that he was messaging an adult woman. On 21 July 2026, Kent Police attended his Gillingham residence to conduct a compliance check on the device. An inspection showed that the message thread had been deleted from the handset, directly breaching terms prohibiting the removal of internet history and messaging logs. Officers noted that the messages did not constitute a separate sexual offence, but the deletion breached mandatory oversight conditions.
Glendenning has a history of sex offending dating back to 2015, when he received a two-year community order and his initial SHPO for child abuse image crimes. In 2017, while living in Uckfield, Glendenning was jailed for 32 months at Hove Crown Court after police seized his phone and uncovered extensive Category A, B, and C child sexual abuse material being possessed and distributed.
Under UK statutory protections, all children depicted in illicit imagery are granted automatic, lifelong statutory anonymity. Publishing, broadcasting, or distributing any identifying details is strictly prohibited under UK law.
Glendenning entered a guilty plea to:
One count of breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order
The judge sentenced Glendenning to an immediate custodial term of one year’s imprisonment. Under standard UK determinate sentencing rules, Glendenning will serve 50 per cent of the 12-month sentence in prison custody before being released on licence under strict probation supervision for the remainder of the period.
Alongside the custodial term, Glendenning remains bound by:
An ongoing Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) enforcing device monitoring and digital restrictions
Mandatory notification requirements on the Sex Offenders Register under the provisions of the Sexual Offences Act 2003
Image – Anonymous Artist Impression
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