DARREN CRONIN FROM NEWMARKET INVOLVED IN CHILD SEX ABUSE CASE AT CAMBRIDGE AND SOHAM

In February 2018, it was reported that Darren Cronin, who now resides in Cambridge, was involved in a disturbing child abuse case that originated in July 2005. The case centers around Cronin, a young man then aged 20, who was employed as a caretaker at Ditton Lodge County First School in Newmarket, a town located just eight miles from Soham, where the notorious school caretaker Ian Huntley murdered ten-year-old girls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in August 2002.

At the time of the incident, Cronin had been working at Ditton Lodge for only a month before he was suspended following a shocking discovery made by staff. They found a disturbing image printed on a school printer, which prompted immediate concern and led to police involvement. The school staff’s quick action resulted in a police investigation that uncovered more alarming evidence.

Authorities conducted a thorough search of Cronin’s home in Newmarket, Suffolk, where they seized two computers. The digital devices contained a total of 185 indecent images of children, some as young as nine years old. Among these images were explicit photographs depicting sexual acts involving minors. The police investigation revealed that Cronin had been downloading these illicit images over a period of two years from a file-sharing website with a large audience, reportedly exceeding one million members. It was also noted that one individual had accessed Cronin’s files on the website on fifty separate occasions.

Cambridge Crown Court heard that one of the files found on Cronin’s computer was titled “pre-teen sex,” highlighting the disturbing nature of the material he possessed. Prosecutor Sara Walker stated that Cronin had admitted to distributing these images on the internet and asked for 106 other charges related to possession of indecent images to be taken into account during sentencing. The court was informed that Cronin had only been employed at the school for a brief period before his suspension, despite having passed security checks that initially cleared him of any criminal record.

During the court proceedings, it was revealed that Cronin had been downloading the images for two years prior to his arrest. The police investigation was swift, and within days, Cronin was taken into custody. Detective Constable Phil Richardson, head of Cambridgeshire Police’s paedophile and internet investigation unit, explained that the police acted promptly once the initial concern was raised by school staff. He emphasized that the security checks conducted at the time did not indicate any prior criminal activity or sexual involvement with children. Importantly, the investigation found no evidence linking the images to children from the school, nor was there any indication of abuse occurring on school premises.

At the court hearing, Cronin pleaded guilty to 16 counts of making indecent photographs of children and requested that 106 additional charges be taken into consideration. He was represented by his parents during the proceedings. Judge Jonathan Haworth sentenced Cronin to two years in a young offenders’ institution. Additionally, Cronin was ordered to register as a sex offender at his local police station within three days. The court also imposed bail conditions, allowing him to live either with his father in Newmarket or at his mother’s address in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. The case was adjourned for pre-sentence and psychiatric reports to be prepared, with a new hearing scheduled for August 8.

Following the court’s decision, a spokesperson for Cambridgeshire County Council expressed confidence that the vetting procedures had been properly followed in Cronin’s case. They acknowledged that while the checks were thorough, they could only identify individuals with prior police records. The council emphasized that procedures had been tightened further following the Bichard Inquiry, which was conducted after the Huntley case. The council also announced that formal disciplinary proceedings had commenced in light of Cronin’s guilty pleas, underscoring the seriousness with which the authorities are addressing this disturbing incident.