Jailed after sharing indecent images on Twitter

A 43-year-old Eastwood man has been jailed for four years for distributing indecent images of children online.

Richard Meade, of Lyncroft, shared half a million images with around 20 ‘followers’ on the social media site, Twitter.

Twitter alerted the National Crime Agency to the activity and officers from Nottinghamshire Police’s Sexual Exploitation Investigation Unit executed a warrant at his home in August last year.

Digital storage devices were seized from the property and examined and it was found that some of the images were in the most serious category.

It is understood he acquired the pictures through peer-to-peer exchanges and file sharing with other paedophiles.

Meade had already pleaded guilty to eight counts of possession, making and distributing indecent images when he appeared again at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday, August 21, for sentencing.

Investigating officer DC Rich Hewitt said afterwards: “This sentence sends out a strong message to people who have an interest in this material and choose to share it with other like-minded individuals.

“The judge had no misgivings in making it clear that he believed Meade was at the top end of the scale in terms of the amount of images he had and the fact he was using a social media platform to share this material with other people who will also, hopefully, be subject to criminal proceedings in other parts of the country.”

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