ELIOT EASTERBY SENTENCED IN SOUTHAMPTON FOR INDECENT IMAGE OFFENSES
Eliot Easterby, 44, was sentenced to a three-year community order during his hearing at Southampton Crown Court, following his conviction last month.Jurors heard that police, armed with a search warrant, arrived at his residence at 6:45 am on January 22 of the previous year, acting on information provided by Canadian police as part of an international operation.
During a four-and-a-half-hour search, authorities found ten DVDs and examined his computer, a hard drive, and three memory sticks.
They discovered nearly 700 images, with nearly 300 already viewed on the computer but subsequently deleted.
An additional 374 images had been downloaded and stored.
The prosecution acknowledged that these images were of the least serious category.
Among the DVDs recovered were titles such as Water Wiggles and More Water Wiggles, which depict boys playing in paddling pools.
Officers also uncovered a collection of boys’ underwear beneath Easterby’s bed, which had been left behind after he took scouts on trips as a leader of Hamble Sea Scouts.
Easterby, who taught mathematics at Sholing Technology College and had authored teenage ghost stories, was quickly convicted by the jury in less than an hour.
He was found guilty on 13 counts of possessing and producing indecent images but was found not guilty of one other charge.
He had denied all allegations.
In his sentencing remarks, Judge Peter Henry stated that the jury’s verdict was correct, particularly regarding the charges involving boys aged between 8 and 15.
