Council CCTV operator who '˜zoomed in on kids' jailed for possessing 2,000 indecent images of children - REGIONAL

Anthony East, 68, of Balcombe Road, Peacehaven, was sentenced to 16 months in prison at Hove Crown Court on Thursday (November 1).

East was a Brighton and Hove Council CCTV operator when in July last year police CCTV operators, who work together on the system, found that he was zooming in on children at the Level Park in Brighton without any proper reason. 

There was no evidence that East has committed specific criminal offences in doing so but officers investigated and devices found at his home contained more than 2000 indecent images of children, including images of the most serious nature.

Detective Chief Inspector Pierre Serra of the Brighton Safeguarding investigations Unit said; '˜The indecent images were found on his home computer system and were unrelated to his work.

'˜All came from the Internet, and there is no evidence that any were of local children.' 

East has also been given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) severely restricting his access to children and computers, and will be a registered sex offender for life.

Public space CCTV monitoring of cameras across the city is operated jointly by the Council and Sussex Police. Council operators use the cameras for traffic monitoring and related enforcement only.