Pedo Caught With 2Mill Child Abuse Images/Multi Arms in Secret Underground Bunker
 

Pensioner, 70, Caught With 2.2Million Child Abuse Images Jailed for 12 Years

Geoffrey Crossland, from Harrogate, North Yorkshire UK, also admitted storing prohibited firearms in a secret underground bunker

Mirror UK, 11 MAR 2019.


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Sick Geoffrey Crossland has been jailed for more than 12 years(Image: SWNS)


A pensioner who amassed one of Britain's largest known collections of indecent images and stored guns in a secret bunker has been jailed.

Geoffrey Crossland today admitted to storing prohibited firearms in an underground bunker at his home in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.

When officers raided the sprawling Padside Green Farm property, they found guns hidden underneath it, along with ammunition.

Police had been investigating the 70-year-old after he was found to have amassed more than 2.2 million indecent images.

The horrific pictures were described by the Crown Prosecution Service as one of the biggest known collections in England and Wales.


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Crossland is led to a prison van in handcuffs after being sentenced this afternoon (Image: PA)

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An aerial picture of the pensioner's home in Harrogate, North Yorkshire - under which guns were hidden (Image: SWNS)



North Yorkshire Police said their seizure was the biggest in the county, and included 6,946 images in the most extreme category A.

Appearing at York Crown Court earlier today, Crossland admitted 11 charges in relation to the possession of firearms and ammunition.

He had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images between January 2011 and October 2018.

And this afternoon, the defendant was sentenced to 12 years and eight months behind bars by His Honour Judge Andrew Stubbs.

Sentencing Crossland, the judge said: "A search on your home led to the discovery of an enormous amount of indecent images of children.


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Firearms recovered from the Padside Green Farm property (Image: SWNS)

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A 3D drawing of the bunker complex under Crossland's home (Image: SWNS)



"In a locked box, devices and hard drives there was also a discovery of carefully stored images of many years dating back to 1998.

"These were systematic searches, some of which found children between 4-7 being raped and others of young girls receiving a significant amount of sexual abuse."

Crossland's home was raided while he was holidaying abroad last year.

He was arrested on his return to Heathrow Airport in an operation conducted by police and the National Crime Agency (NCA).


Stephen Wood, prosecuting, told the court: "It [the bunker] was fitted with electrics and from there they recovered USBs, sim cards, external hard drives, laptops, computers, tablets, floppy disks and DVDs.

"Among the evidence there was a worrying document which had been created with login details so he [Crossland] couldn't forget which websites to access.


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Crossland, seen in handcuffs, appeared at York Crown Court today (Image: PA)



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Another recovered firearm (Image: SWNS)


"There was also websites on the documents listed with where he could access the best websites for indecent images of children and where he could share the information without being suspected.

"He even categorised the websites by the content and who had made them."
Susannah Proctor, defending, said: "The bunker at his home was made in 1993 from storage containers which he applied for permission.

"He worked from his home at that time for his business creating manufactured electrical components.

"He possessed the firearms because he was an enthusiast and had been since he was 11 years old. This was also a hobby he shared with his father."

Former businessman Crossland was jailed for five years for the possession of indecent images, 20 months for possessing moving images of a young girl, and six years for the illegal possession of firearms.


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Of the over 12-year sentence, six years were for the illegal possession of firearms (Image: SWNS)

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Crossland had been arrested on his return to Heathrow Airport (Image: SWNS)



He was also issued with a ten-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and placed on the sex offenders' register for ten years.

Detective Chief Inspector Graeme Wright, of North Yorkshire Police, was the senior investigating officer in the case.

He said:
"This is without doubt the largest ever seizure of indecent images of children in the history of North Yorkshire Police.

"The investigation as a whole has been on a scale never seen before in our area regarding this type of offending.

"More than 100 digital devices were seized from an office area above the underground bunker complex on Crossland's premises.

"Each device had to undergo painstaking examination by North Yorkshire Police's Digital Forensic Unit supported by a team of specialist officers from the National Crime Agency.


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Crossland, seen at the back in handcuffs, was placed on the sex offenders' register for ten years (Image: PA)



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The pictures of the recovered firearms emerged today (Image: SWNS)


"There was also the recovery of the prohibited firearms and ammunition. We knew that Crossland had, legitimately, been an active member of shooting clubs over the years and he had acquired a large collection of firearms-related items and ammunition which he stored in the bunker.

"Nevertheless, everything had to be seized and carefully assessed to determine what was and what wasn't legally held."

Marc Horsfall, of the National Crime Agency, said:

"A team of specially trained NCA officers spent several months working through Crossland's horrific catalogue of abuse images to grade them in order of severity.

"Crossland and men like him are fuelling the actual contact abuse of children and the sickening distribution of those images.

"The NCA works with partners at home and abroad to catch child sex offenders and bring them to justice."
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