Rory Need, aged 37, of Rimsdale Close, Wistaston, Crewe, Cheshire, has been sentenced to six years and six months’ imprisonment at Chester Crown Court after being convicted of child sexual exploitation offences involving a nine-year-old girl.
The inquiry was initiated by Dyfed-Powys Police after intelligence identified a Snapchat profile sending illicit sexual communications to the primary school-aged victim.
Specialist investigators mapped the account’s digital data back to Need’s home address in Crewe.
Cheshire Police arrested Need at his residence in March 2024 and seized multiple electronic devices.
Subsequent digital forensic examinations confirmed the presence of an array of illicit images of children stored across the hardware.
Need denied the allegations, requiring the prosecution to present their evidence before a Crown Court jury.
Following a three-day trial, jurors dismissed his defence and convicted him on six counts:
- Possessing indecent images of children
- Making indecent images of children
- Distributing indecent images of children
- Causing a child to view images of sexual activity
- Causing a child to engage in sexual activity
- Engaging in sexual communication with a child
Appearing for sentencing on Monday, 21 September, the presiding judge handed Need an immediate custodial sentence of six years and six months (78 months).
The court also made him subject to the terms of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and ordered that he remain on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely (for life).
Release Calculation: Under UK sentencing legislation governing standard determinate sentences under seven years, Need is subject to automatic release at the halfway point. He must serve three years and three months (39 months) in prison custody before being released on licence for the remainder of the sentence under the supervision of the Probation Service.
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