ROCHDALE PAEDOPHILE ROBERT BLACKBAND SENTENCED FOR SHARING CHILD SEXUAL IMAGES IN VILE CHAT GROUPS
In a disturbing case that has shocked the community of Rochdale, 67-year-old Robert Blackband has been sentenced to prison after authorities uncovered his involvement in sharing and distributing indecent images of minors through online platforms.The investigation revealed that Blackband was actively engaged in a heinous online network, where he exchanged explicit photographs and engaged in sexualized conversations about children.
Police officers executed a search warrant at Blackband’s residence on Worcester Road in Rochdale on March 29, 2019.
The officers’ suspicions were confirmed when they discovered a collection of over 400 indecent images on his devices, including 139 classified as Category A, which are considered the most severe form of child exploitation material.
The authorities also found videos and other media that depicted the sexual abuse of children, alongside a web browsing history filled with searches related to indecent images and a chat application called ‘Kitkat’.
Further analysis of Blackband’s electronic devices revealed his membership in a chat group titled ‘Schoolgirls’, where he shared explicit images and engaged in conversations that sexualized minors.
During police interviews, Blackband admitted to being part of another online group named ‘PervsRUs’, which was also dedicated to the sharing of child abuse images.
Initially denying involvement, he later confessed to creating and distributing indecent images of children.
Prosecutor Mark Brookes detailed the extent of Blackband’s online activities in court, stating that officers found a total of 139 Category A images, two of which had been distributed.
Additionally, 63 Category B images and 233 Category C images were recovered, with some images having been shared with others.
The investigation also uncovered 196 separate conversations on the ‘Kitkat’ app, where Blackband used the pseudonym ‘TomBlack’.
He was identified as a member of a group called ‘Schoolgirls’, which included the exchange of images of minors, and he was involved in another group with 33 participants, where images were also shared.
Blackband admitted to officers that the phone seized from his home was his and that he used it to message others, including searching for terms like ‘schoolgirl’.
He confirmed his involvement with the ‘PervsRUs’ chat room, where users shared images with the explicit purpose of masturbation.
The court heard that the images and conversations involved real children being sexually abused, with Blackband actively seeking and sharing such material.
Judge Tina Landale, presiding over the case, sentenced Blackband to two years and six months in prison.
She emphasized the severity of his actions, stating, “It’s clear from the evidence in the case that you actively searched for indecent images of children on the internet.
These images depicted real-time abuse by adult men, and you were discussing what you would do to a child or contemplating such acts.
Men were asking you to send pictures to them.” As part of his sentence, Blackband was placed under a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register until further notice, reflecting the serious nature of his crimes and the ongoing risk he poses to the community.
