Horsham Man Jailed Again For Indecency Offences Involving Children

A West Sussex man already convicted of child sex offences has now gone to prison again after being found in possession of nearly 47,000 indecent images of children, and other prohibited images. 

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Police also believed that Mark Grindon, using the name 'Eddie Gardener' may have used an online dating site to be in contact with women who have children. 

Grindon, 37, unemployed, of Swallowfield Close, Mannings Heath, near Horsham, admitted making 46,986 indecent images, still photographs and videos.

Some of these were of the most serious type, police said.

Additionally, he was convicted of possession of extreme pornography of a type unsuitable for discussion on a family radio station website.

His convictions also included possession of prohibited images, and a breach of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order after using a device to access the Internet without using monitoring software.

He was also convicted of breaching registered sex offender notification requirements.

Hove Crown Court sentenced him to 13 months in prison, during a hearing on May 17.

Grindon was no stranger to repeated sexual offences against children over several years.

Officers noted that he had previously been sentenced to a total of 18 months imprisonment at Guildford Crown Court in December 2019 having been convicted of going online to look at the sites of the young girls, and of possessing the items, despite a court order directing him not to do so. 

But the time-consuming forensic examination of his digital devices seized when he was arrested in 2019 had continued, resulting in the discovery of the indecent images and his further sentencing.

In November 2016 Grindon had first been convicted at Chichester Crown Court of making indecent images of children.

He was given a suspended prison sentence and as well as being a registered sex offender, he was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), severely restricting his contact with children and computers and requiring him to clear any such contact with supervising police officers. 

However early in 2019 as a result of police checks, it became clear that on his Instagram account he had been looking at the accounts of more than 30 girls from across the country, aged between 11 and 15, mainly in ballet and leotard outfits.

There was no evidence that Grindon had contacted any of the girls identified.

But this was a clear breach of the SHPO.

Furthermore, when police searched his home, they also found camera phones, a GoPro camera and a computer tablet concealed in a hidden compartment behind a false shelf in his bathroom, alongside adult products, girls' leotards, and a doll of a child specifically manufactured to facilitate indecent behaviour by whoever possessed it.

Officers also found a camcorder.  His possession of all these breached the Order. 

As a result Grindon became a registered sex offender indefinitely and was given a renewed SHPO, again to last indefinitely, continuing the severe restrictions on access to children and computers.

The restrictions include a ban of his using any form of social media.

PC Louise Giles of the Sussex Police team responsible for monitoring registered sex offenders in the community in West Sussex said: 

"This further sentencing shows that we will continue to seek out evidence, even thought it may be a time-consuming process, to bring such offenders to justice in order to protect the community.

"Grindon has been known to use an alias “Eddie Gardener” in online dating profiles, to contact women with access to children.

"If you have had contact with him, please contact us either online, or by calling 101, quoting reference 47190112747."