May 2014
Paedophile convicted after sharing indecent images of children
A paedophile from Bournemouth has been convicted of making and sharing vast amounts of indecent child images – the largest child indecent case ever investigated by Dorset Police.
Benjamin John Ashman, aged 37, was discovered distributing indecent images of children to paedophiles around the world.
He was caught by Dorset Police’s Paedophile Online Investigation Team after they intercepted his online conversation with a convicted sex offender.
Hundreds of explicit and shocking text messages were also found on his mobile and some involved him sharing images of a four-year-old UK girl.
He was sentenced to 18 months in jail on Friday 2nd May at Bournemouth Crown Court with 27 counts of making and possessing indecent child photographs; three counts of distributing child photographs and taking an indecent photo of a child.
Director of Public Protection, Acting Detective Superintendent Chris Naughton said: “We are using technology to combat offenders who use the internet as weapon to attack and abuse children. We will track you, we will arrest you and we will convict you with the severest sentence at our disposal.”
