Paedophile caught secretly recording children in his community

The 62-year-old was also found to have thousands of indecent images of children - categorised by police as those most extreme

A paedophile has been caught secretly recording children in his Cheshire community. The 62-year-old, from Rushmore Drive, Widnes, was also found to have kept a vile stash of thousands of indecent images of children - categorised legally as the most extreme in nature.

Alexander Kerr appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday 30 October, where he was sentenced to two years and eight months.

Kerr previously pleaded guilty to nine counts of making indecent images of children (Category A, B, and C), two counts of possessing indecent images of a children, one count of possessing extreme pornography, two counts of taking indecent images of children, two counts of voyeurism, and one count of possessing a prohibited image of a child.

The investigation against Kerr was launched in 2022 when officers received intelligence regarding online activity involving indecent images at his previous home address on Hewell Grange, Runcorn.

A warrant was carried at the address in 31 August 2022 and Kerr was arrested. Officers also seized a number of electronic devices on which they discovered 2,779 indecent images of children.

These included 528 category A images, 429 category B, 1,822 category C, 44 extreme pornographic videos involving animals, and 64 prohibited images of children downloaded between 2002 and 2023. Kerr was charged shortly after in connection with the offences.

Upon inspection of his devices, officers also discovered Kerr had been secretly recording and taking images of four women and girls who lived near to him, one of whom was 10 years old, at his previous home addresses in Runcorn and Merseyside.

He was subsequently charged with voyeurism and taking indecent images of children in relation to four victims.

Following his sentencing, Detective Constable Michael McGuinness said: “Kerr knew that what he was doing was wrong, yet he carried on anyway.

“During his interview, he told officers that he accidentally downloaded indecent images of children onto his devices while searching for aviation videos.

“But when he realised the significant amount of evidence gathered against him, he had no choice but to confess and plead guilty.

“This wasn’t just a one-off incident - over a sustained period of time he downloaded more than 2,000 indecent images of vulnerable victims for his own sexual gratification – behind every image is a child suffering.

“Not only that, but he secretly recorded four women and girls, invading their privacy within their own homes. Kerr is a prolific and dangerous sex offender, and I am glad to see him behind bars.

“We are committed to pursuing and bringing to justice those who engage in online child sexual activity and those who play a part in the sexual abuse of children. I hope that the sentence handed down to Kerr reinforces the message that nobody is above the law and deters others from committing similar offences.”

In addition to his custodial sentence, Kerr was ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for life.

He was also given a sexual harm prevention order for life.

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