December 2012 Robert Hughes was given an eight month jail sentence suspended for two years with two years supervision. Hughes was also ordered to complete a community sex offender group work programme and was placed on the sex offenders’ register for five years. November 2012 Holbeach man of 72 had images of child sex A man of 72 had 499 indecent images of children when police swooped on his Holbeach home. Among the still and moving images were five in the most serious category – which covers sadism or penetration of or by an animal – and 100 classed as level four, penetrative sex involving a child or children or both children and adults. Images stored on a computer tower and DVDs showed children as young as five and six-years-old engaged in sex acts. Indecent images of both boys and girls were found on the computer with some of the children involved being as young as five years old. Robert Hughes, of Oakwood Glade, pleaded guilty to a total of eight offences involving possessing and making indecent photographs of children when he appeared at Spalding Magistrates’ Court on Thursday. The cases relate to the period April 2010 to April this year. Edward Johnson, prosecuting, said police went to Johnson’s home after receiving information from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre. He said sentencing guidelines suggest a prison term of four to 18 months and described the ages of the children in the case as an “aggravating feature”. Presiding magistrate Sally Ruttley told Hughes: “We feel these matters are too serious for us to be able to sentence you for these offences so we will commit you to the crown court for sentence.” Hughes will appear at the crown court on a date notified to him. Mrs Ruttley told Hughes he was being given bail with a condition that he must have no unsupervised contact with any person under the age of 16. Hughes was asked he if understood and replied: “Yes I do. Yes.”