Bexhill paedophile Andrew Beale cost brother his job – The Argus

A PAEDOPHILE cost his brother his job by failing to confess to possessing sick child sex abuse images.

Andrew Beale was living at the same property as his brother in Bexhill when police got a tip off about indecent images being made.

Some of the images contained horrifying examples of abuse on a baby and upon toddlers.

The 39-year-old was living in a separate outhouse, but there were four adults living in the property at the time of the raid.

But Beale did not immediately admit to being the man responsible for downloading and making the abuse images.

It was a decision which ended up costing his brother his employment with an IT firm, Lewes Crown Court heard.

The finger of suspicion fell on all the adults at the property.

Dominic Benthall revealed how Beale was in possession of some of the worst kinds of child abuse images.

Beale had been looking at indecent images for more than ten years, it was claimed.

The police warrant at the property took place in 2019.

Kevin Light, defending, said nothing was said when police arrived and no arrest was made, and it was only when questioned that Beale admitted his sick crimes.

It included possessing more than 3,000 category C images, along with about 30 category B and 30 category A images, along with other material on old hard drives.

Mr Light said his client was living in an outhouse at the property and said Beale regrets having caused the problems for his brother.

Her Honour Judge Janet Waddicor said the incident had caused great tension between them.

She said: Presumably because this defendant did not say this is all to do with me, the finger of suspicion fell on his brother, who was working in education and lost his job.

Mr Light said Beales brother had worked for a computer firm, and said the brother did indeed lose his job.

Addressing Beale, the judge said: The police went to your home on the basis of information that indecent images of children were being distributed at that property.

You happened to be living in an outbuilding, a shed almost and three other adults were living there.

When police went there, no one put their hands up to having such material. So all four adults were under suspicion.

Three were blameless, one person had possession of these images and it was you. One of the consequences of the police search and removal of equipment was that your brother lost his job.

That is something you feel responsible for, as indeed you are. You did not say to the police the material you are looking for belongs to me.

The judge said victims shown in the images often have psychological problems through their lives.

She said: There is a market created in the abuse of children, marketed down to people such a yourself who derive pleasure, unspeakably, from looking at such images.

You may have persuaded yourself it is a victimless crime, but it is not.

Beale, of De La Warr Road, Bexhill, was given a one-year suspended prison sentence. He was ordered to complete 80 hours of unpaid work and complete 25 rehabilitation sessions.

He was put under the terms of a Sexual Harm Prevention order restricting his access to children and computer equipment, and his hard drives and devices were ordered to be destroyed.

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Bexhill paedophile Andrew Beale cost brother his job - The Argus