Prison for Ramsgate man who downloaded vile child abuse images

Jailed: Kristian Fernandez

A Ramsgate man who downloaded indecent images of children while he was the subject of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) has been jailed.

Kristian Fernandez, 65, was given a two-year and three-month sentence at Canterbury Crown Court on Wednesday (May 12) after admitting three counts of making an indecent image of a child relating to more than 20 category A – the worst category-, category B and category C images and videos.

Fernandez, of Clements Road, Ramsgate, was visited by members of Kent Police’s Offender Management Unit on Thursday 6 June 2019 as part of the terms of a SOPO imposed on him after he was sentenced for similar offences in 2009.

When checking a phone he had at his address, an officer saw an indecent image of a child and the telephone was seized.

Analysis uncovered further indecent videos and images, including 16 at category A, the most explicit kind as categorised by police and the courts.

Fernandez was later arrested and charged with three offences, relating to more than 20 category A, category B and category C images and videos.

Jean Farbrace, Kent Police’s investigator in the case, said: “The children abused in indecent images are real victims of real crimes and anyone accessing such images is complicit in their abuse.

“Fernandez continued to access such images despite being the subject of an order imposed by a court and the sentence imposed on him shows that those who take part in this activity face prison when caught.”