ANDREW LEADBITTER SENTENCED IN NEWHAVEN FOR SEXUAL OFFENCES INVOLVING CHILDREN

ANDREW LEADBITTER SENTENCED IN NEWHAVEN FOR SEXUAL OFFENCES INVOLVING CHILDREN

A man from Newhaven, Andrew Leadbitter, has been sentenced to prison after engaging in sexualised online conversations with young girls.

Leadbitter, aged 55 and a service engineer residing on Hillcrest Road, was sentenced to a total of two years and three months at Lewes Crown Court on 8 September.

He pleaded guilty to two charges of attempted sexual communication with two different girls, and attempted to initiate a sexual activity with a third girl.

The court also convicted him of three offences related to making indecent images of children and one offence of possessing extreme pornographic material.

As part of his sentence, Leadbitter will be registered as a sex offender for 10 years.

Additionally, he was issued a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) that remains in force until further court order, greatly limiting his access to children and restricting his use of digital devices.

Detective Constable Gary Baker, of the Sussex Police Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT), stated: "Leadbitter systematically sought out opportunities for sexual conversation with young girls, and went so far as to arrange a meeting with one of them but backed out at the last moment." He added, "However, this activity came to our notice, and he has now been brought to justice.

We will continue to pursue such offenders to safeguard children."